Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Earth
by Purple Chickie
Summary: Earth is dying. The words of Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers weren't taken seriously, and soon, the Earth will be only a debris field. In an effort to save their daughter's life, they send her towards a group of stars, all of which have potentially inhabited planets around them. Alex has an accident and finds herself on Krypton, and with a new family
1. Chapter 1

**AN** – My health issues have kept me from writing regularly, but hopefully I can hop back up on the horse, and ride again! This is my second attempt at a _Supergirl_ fan fic. Those that have read my other work can see if it stacks up to that.

Just a note, the story combines comics continuity with that of the TV show, most notably that all the Arrowverse characters are on the same Earth, like in the comics all the Earth One characters are on Earth One, characters like the original Huntress that's Helena Wayne, the daughter of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle, are on Earth Two, the Crime Syndicate is on Earth Three, and so on. Daxamites have the same powers Kryptonians do, with no weakness to Kryptonite, but with the weakness to lead, like in the comics. Also, this story is an AU story, a "What if Earth had been destroyed, and Alex had been sent to Krypton?" story. Other than that, it's mostly TV show continuity. I hope you enjoy and thanks for reading!

 _ **Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Earth**_

 **Chapter 1**

Earth was dying. In a matter of months, perhaps even weeks or days, the bright blue little marble of the Sol solar system would be no more. The natural resources of the little blue planet were rapidly being depleted. The continued drilling for oil, strip mining, global warming, and other such endeavors and phenomena had long been predicted to eventually be the Earth's downfall. For decades, scientists and other specialists had sought to get the governments and people of Earth to realize that they were sharpening the guillotine for their own metaphorical beheading, but mankind had refused to listen.

 _Earth has been here for billions of years, and even if this were to happen, it'll never happen within our lifetime, or the lifetime of any descendants that will come after. They'll find a way to fix it, so we're good to keep using the resources until then,_ these were the thoughts of the majority of the humans inhabiting the beautiful cloud dappled sphere that spun around the yellow star.

The relentless mining and drilling had majorly adverse effects on the surface, crust and mantle of the planet itself. The global warming phenomenon, despite certain groups' fervent belief that "global warming" was so much bullshit being spouted by scientists and "tree huggers" and couldn't possibly be real, had shifted the weather patterns in the Atlantic Jet stream, which not only affected the weather in and around the Atlantic Ocean, but had a significant impact on the weather patterns of the entire planet. The polar caps were slowly melting, resulting in more flooding, more cold water finding itself trickling into the warmer water of the ocean further removed from the ice shelf, which affected temperature and weather alike.

As if that weren't enough, there had been several population booms, occurring much more frequently than they had at any time in prior history, which taxed the planet and its resources even more. The population of Earth had surpassed seven billion souls, and was rapidly encroaching on eight billion. At the extreme end of estimates, the kindest estimate stated that Earth could successfully support perhaps ten billion people. However, this would necessitate everyone on the planet becoming a vegetarian, and would require the complete elimination of livestock, in order to make maximum use of the amount of arable land that existed on the planet. This wasn't likely to happen in any stretch of time that anyone could predict, so that number was shorn down considerably, to only perhaps eight to eight and a half billion people.

Man's lifespan had increased significantly through science, learning how the effects of environment and lifestyle affected a human being. Through refinement of how food was produced and preserved, and the identification of and treating or eradicating virulent diseases, the lifespan of the average human being had effectively doubled over the course of two centuries. It was predicted that as Earth neared its "carrying capacity," that Mother Nature, God, whatever power you ascribed to, would step in and once more significantly reduce Man's lifespan, in an order to restore some semblance of balance to the runaway planet.

As the population had grown, not only had the need for food and fresh, potable water increased proportionately, but so had the need for energy, fuel, and other resources, which bolstered the lives of each and every individual on the face of the planet. This, of course, increased the strain that was being viciously and brutally put upon the world, and it seemed like no one could hear the blue marble's choking, and death throes, rapidly approaching. In other words, mankind was a condition that was rapidly and inexorably transforming from a symbiotic relationship with their world into a parasitic relationship, which could only end in death, either for the planet, the people, or both.

Mankind was killing their world, and in turn killing itself. And none of them heeded the words of those trusted to provide knowledge, or the evidence that was on display all around them, as evident as the very noses on their oblivious faces, for every person of all ages to see and take note of, if they but only paid attention to their world around them. Humankind had fallen prey to the folly of putting off until later, and putting onto the shoulders of a future generation, the healing and repair of their home. Their _only_ home.

The idea of colonizing the moon, other planets and celestial bodies within reasonable reach, had been discussed for years, but instead of implementing a plan to phase resources into researching ways to travel further and faster into space and making such possibilities something more than simple discussion, they'd ignored the urgency and let their space programs fall into disuse, and virtual dismantling. When the programs were still active, the planning for eventual reaching out into the cosmos and colonizing distant (distant for simple Earthlings, anyway) worlds, moons, or even asteroids was a viable plan that could have been worked towards saving the denizens of Earth. Instead, apathy had destroyed the human race, and the world upon which they lay sprawled, feeding their own demise unwittingly and unknowingly, simply because they refused to listen and believe.

Mankind had condemned itself, and the beautiful planet called Earth, to death and destruction. It had taken billions of years for the lovely little world to mold, gel and form into the lush, pristine globe it had been when mankind had started abusing it. It'd only taken a small handful of centuries to bring it to the brink of destruction. It had taken only a couple of centuries to ramp up that abuse, destroying the world as surely as a hammer destroys an egg with one swing.

The young brunette sitting at the kitchen table with her parents, in a modest house in the sleepy town of Midvale, California, had known these things. Like her parents, she could see the evidence clearly, but all the urging in the world would not sway the majority of the planet into listening and acting upon what they heard. Alex Danvers found it incomprehensible that so many insightful, intelligent, and influential people could completely and totally miss what she saw, with very little experience and practical knowledge, at the tender age of fourteen.

Jeremiah Danvers, Alex's father, sipped from his orange juice, and took a considered breath before looking up at his wife, Eliza, and his daughter, Alex. On the small TV in the kitchen, CNN was reporting the recent rash of hurricanes and tornadoes springing up, not only in the United States, but all over the world. The causes were, of course, debated back and forth into the realm of banality, an exercise in absolute uselessness. The effects were similarly brought up, scoffed at, and dismissed, with the ease and swiftness of stupidity.

Finally, after a couple of moments of ridiculous debate, he turned to his family and let out a long, heavy sigh. "Look at these people. The end of the world is racing towards us at alarming speed, and they're squabbling, trying to sound like 'experts.' If this is the predominant mentality on this planet, maybe it's for the best that in a short while, it will be gone, along with this social disease they call humanity," he grumbled quietly in disgust.

"Jeremiah," said Eliza, shaking her blonde head slowly as she put her own fork down, and reached over to touch her husband's hand. "It's probably not just that they're too blind to see it, or intelligent enough to recognize and understand what they're seeing. They're probably scared out of their wits, and are trying to convince themselves there's nothing to be afraid of. What people don't understand, they fear, and what they fear, they run from it, ignore it, or try to convince themselves it's not real. You know that as well as I do."

The dark headed man nodded softly, turning his hand to squeeze the slender hand of his wife gently. His expression was still sour, but there was the barest hint of relief in his dark eyes. "I know, hon, it's just that world's our situation has been explained, laid out, and shouted out so many times, and they just haven't listened. Not at all," he said, giving his daughter a light, half hearted smile. He doubted she was convinced, but he figured you couldn't blame him for trying.

"If it means anything, Dad, I listened," said Alex quietly as she finished up her breakfast, and neatly put her utensils on her plate, and then got up and deposited them in the sink. "I've tried to convince my teachers, and other kids at school what's going on, that it's coming a lot sooner than they think it is, but who listens to a fourteen year old girl? I can tell you who. Nobody. Zilch. Zero. Nada. At best, I get told to hush, that I don't know what I'm talking about."

"Of course it means something, honey," replied her mother, who wrapped her arms around the young girl, and kissed the top of her head. Across the table, her father smiled and nodded, but he had that far away look he got when he was deep in thought. Eliza glanced at him, then at Alex, and back at Jeremiah before adding, "In fact, that's why we've been working on something, something we've kept a close secret."

The glance wasn't lost on Alex, not even remotely. She'd been told so many times to not go out to the lab outside that had been converted from the guest house and garage in the back, and though curiosity had been virtually burning her alive, she'd obeyed her parents. "Working on something? Is that what you two have been doing out in the lab? Is that why you've both spent more time at home than you have at work for the past year or so?" she asked boldly. "What is it? What's out there?"

Eliza laughed thinly and held up her hands, "Hey, easy there, Tiger. Yes, it's what we've been doing out there. Your father and I decided a while back that if the governments of the world weren't going to listen, then we would just have to do something ourselves, no matter how small it might be." Her voice and eyes were sad, and her hand came to caress Alex's cheek softly, like she was about to go on a trip that would take her away for years. The young girl hated when she'd get that look on her face, but lately, she'd been wearing it a lot.

Jeremiah got up, wiped his mouth and pushed his chair in. With his keys in hand, he waved her and Eliza to follow him. As they walked across the backyard, he turned and tried to smile, but didn't quite make it. He placed the key in the door, punched in the code on the pad, and waited, then turned the key and opened the door.

"We originally pitched this to the government, who we hoped would make our pitch to the other governments of the world as well, but bureaucracy reared its ugly head," he said, leading them both into the lab proper, and then beyond. As they went along, he flipped on lights, and finally, they were at the door to what used to be the garage, but now was a large workshop and room that served several purposes. He paused, his hand on the door, ready to push it open.

Eliza laid her hands on Alex's shoulders, and squeezed gently. "We've known that this time was coming eventually, and we'd been planning for it since before you were born. But now, with all this abnormal weather activity, it's just a matter of weeks, if not days, before the tectonic disturbances start. Once that happens, we've reached the absolute point of no return. It won't be simple seismic disturbances and earthquakes. It'll be the world tearing itself apart at the seams."

Alex felt her chin drop, leaving her mouth open as she stared at her parents, her eyes moving back and forth. She was trying to speak, but she felt her mouth and throat go as dry as any desert on the face of the planet. This wasn't just something they were hurtling towards like a barrel about to go over the falls. They'd already gone over and were in freefall. When the world's barrel hit, it was going to obliterate, and the world right along with it. Even though she knew this to be a fact, it was still barely comprehensible or imaginable.

"But Mom," she finally got out, every word a struggle against the hyperventilation that kept threatening to overtake her. "You and Dad…you're a bioengineer. I know that isn't the only thing you know, sure, but…but are you really _absolutely_ sure? I mean, geology and stuff isn't your usual area of expertise…" Alex trailed off, hoping, praying that her parents were wrong, that they still had some time. The world couldn't be ending this soon, could it?

Jeremiah's hands came to rest on her shoulders, and he turned her to fix her gaze with his. "Alex," he began with a serious tone. "We're absolutely sure. Believe me, we wish we were overestimating the conditions and that we would have time to save everyone just as badly as you do. But we don't have that time. That time is right here, and before you can blink, it's going to be a lot closer. Your Mom is a bioengineer, yes, but that's not her only discipline. Like me, she's got a very well structured and broad expertise in several sciences. We're sure. I wish like hell we weren't, sweetheart."

Alex trusted her parents with her life, with anything and everything, but this was just too big to wrap her head around. It was one thing to know it was going to happen, and happen soon. It was quite another to realize that you're measuring the time you have left in less than a year, maybe even less than a season, or less than a full moon cycle. She kept looking between them and she could feel the bottoms of her eyes welling up with moisture. She was suddenly cold and terrified inside.

"We brought this proposal to NASA and the President," said Eliza, gently nodding her head in the direction of the space beyond the door her father was standing in front of. "If they'd acted on it with the urgency and immediacy that they should have, a sizable portion of the world might have been saved. Optimistically everyone, but that's undeniably a dream rather than a possibility, and we knew that going in."

Jeremiah grunted, and shook his head. His face was getting that agitated scowl that Alex had seen too many times to count when he wrestled with a huge problem, or when something was interfering with his work. "But they didn't take us seriously, unfortunately. They started quoting budgets, manpower and man hours, and every other business objection you could make, and telling us that it was not only impossible, but ludicrous to think this would ever even have a chance of being undertaken. 'Nobody in their right mind would fund this craziness,' they said."

"'Fund?' Seriously? They were concerned with how much it was going to _cost?_ What difference could it _possibly_ make how much it'd cost, when if it wasn't done, there wouldn't be any money to pay anyone, or anyone to collect it? Are these people just, like, brain dead?" asked Alex in incredulity, her voice rising sharply in pitch as the disbelief and utter shock ran through her entire being. "The 'cost' would be their lives, and the lives of everybody on this planet. The world's ending, and they want to pinch pennies because they think they're going to be around to collect money, or that there will be any money to collect, instead of wanting to save their asses so they can worry about how much money they didn't get later? God, these people are so…so…"

The elder Danvers looked at each other, and despite the gravity of the situation and conversation, they couldn't help but laugh internally at their daughter's spitfire attitude and spunk, not to mention the more than apt description that she couldn't seem to give voice to. She was definitely their child, each thought. She was passionate, intelligent, determined, and possessed of a spirit that didn't know the meaning of giving up and not trying. Those qualities would probably be the most important factor in saving her life. At least part of them would survive in Alex. There would be some possibility for a future for the human race.

"Yes, they are," confirmed Eliza, trying not to smile at Alex's fire. "I think it's time for you to see the physical manifestation of all our hopes," she continued, and nodded for Jeremiah to open the door they were standing in front of. The sound of winds whipping through the trees was very loud and prominent suddenly. Storms were popping up more and more frequently, and more and more suddenly, lately. Just earlier that day, there were seven hurricane cells forming like a litter of puppies being born to a mother. There were four in the Pacific, and three in the Atlantic, the potential of destruction spread over an area that stretched from south of Australia to as far north as the Arctic shelf, if they were as severe and large as they were postulated to become. The potential for destruction could be even more widespread if those cells gave birth to others.

The Danvers all entered the large shop area, and Jeremiah flipped on the lights. Ahead of them was some sort of scaffolding, almost like a roller coaster track sitting on the ground. On top of that was a sleek, fast looking shuttle like vehicle, large enough to hold one person with reasonable comfort, it seemed. Lights on its hull were active and lit, and it was obviously much more than a simple shell. She'd never seen anything like it, not outside a good sci fi movie anyway.

Her parents noticed her shock, and the fact she seemed to be trying to form words, but so far, it just wasn't happening. Her father moved closer to the ship and laid his hand affectionately on its side. "We'd proposed recycling and reprocessing metal from all over the world and combining it to build large ships, much like this one," he said, rubbing his hand along the port side of the ship. "This was…is…just a prototype, a 'proof of concept' so to speak. The engines are a form of ion and fusion propulsion, capable of much, much faster travel speeds than anything ever built before by human hands."

Alex drank all this in, and kept moving her eyes between her parents and the ship. At her father's explanation, she held up a hand. "Wait, wait, wait…ion and fusion? How the…? We've never developed anything past simple nuclear and atomic propulsion, and even that was more theoretical than actual. Where in the world did you come up with a way to create something like this?"

Her parents glanced at each other. There was no mistaking that Alex was the child of scientists. In school, when her attention was focused on her work instead of some boy or girl, or something that interested her, she was brilliant, working on the same sort of levels as her parents, potentially. "Remember the man that asked your Dad to work for him in the FBI as a scientific consultant?" asked Eliza, as her hand returned to Alex's shoulder. Her daughter nodded softly, still trying to take it all in.

"Well, imagine my surprise to discover that that man didn't work for the FBI at all, but instead an organization called the Department of Extranormal Operations, or DEO. It's a high level top secret organization that concerns itself with alien activity, and helps friendly aliens, and acts as a sort of police force for aliens that aren't so friendly. Needless to say, the general public and even most of the government and military don't even know they exist. It's sort of like Area 51, but a hundred times more complex and secret," said Jeremiah, as he kept his voice quiet, even here.

He let her drink that all in, and start attempting to process it before he continued, "Imagine my further surprise when I discovered that he wasn't just the director of the DEO, but that he was secretly an alien himself. An actual, real Martian, not this hokey stuff you see in bad sci fi movies. I don't think anybody but your mother and I know he's an alien."

"A Martian?" Alex deadpanned. Her speech was nearly all monotone, as her mind tried to assimilate this knowledge as completely as she could. "Like, from Mars? Like for real from Mars?" Every time she thought she'd been slapped with something too incredible to believe, her parents outdid themselves.

"Yes, dear, aliens are real, and there are real Martians," answered Eliza, as she reached up to touch her daughter's face again. "Hank…his real name is J'Onn…knew what we know, and he wanted to help us try and save our people, so we wouldn't fade from the universe the way his own people have. So, he shared very advanced Martian technology with us, and helped us build a crude version of the types of engines his own people's ships used."

Jeremiah sat down on a bench and ran his hands back through his dark hair. "He helped with the whole ship, honestly. He helped us build a cryo sleep unit inside the ship as well, and controls to regulate it, and time when it would activate and when it would bring the passengers back to consciousness. It's all very safe, and it'll be easier for passengers to travel over great distances, without worrying about growing too old in space, or running out of food during the trip."

Alex was staring at the ship, and even touched it tentatively, and ran her hand along its smooth surface. "So, it can make long trips, and you just take a nice nap while it does all the work, and then it wakes you up, like a smart alarm clock, when you're where you're going?" she asked, turning to look at her parents over her shoulder. The metal was smooth, smoother than anything she'd ever felt before. She assumed it was some sort of alloy that the Martian had taught her parents to make, or maybe it was its own element, native to Mars but not Earth.

Eliza sat down beside Jeremiah and took his hand in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze as he spoke, "Pretty much, yes. We've done some extensive sky searching, and according to our own data, and the data from the NASA Spitzer space telescope, we've found a cluster of stars that have several planets that are within their stars' habitable zones and can support human life, though some conditions may be different, such as greater or lesser gravity, different filtering of light and heat, slightly different percentages of oxygen and nitrogen, that sort of thing. There's one we're aiming for. It has a star similar to the sun, and it has the best chance for something like home. Nearby is a red giant, which has a planet a bit larger than Earth, so its gravity is probably a bit stronger, and the atmosphere may need a little adjustment for a human to adapt to it, but in either event, the entire cluster is promising."

"How long would you be asleep if it was set to go to the star system you're talking about?" asked Alex as she climbed up and started looking around inside the ship. It was, indeed, very small, barely big enough for one person without being cramped, but there didn't seem to be any way the three of them would fit without being squeezed in like sardines, unless there was part of the ship she couldn't see.

"About ten years, give or take," answered Eliza, as she watched Alex, along with Jeremiah. "You'd be asleep through most of that. You'd go into sleep after you'd gotten your course plotted and set, which it should take about three days before you reach the point where you'd engage the main drive. It should bring you out of cryo sleep a day or so before you reach planetfall. Since the governments of the world didn't see this project as worth going ahead with, and saving a significant portion of the world's population, we're going to preserve our family and race with this ship. At least some part of humanity will remain in the universe."

Alex frowned and turned, pointing over her shoulder with her thumb as she climbed back down. "I hope that thing's roomier inside than it looks from out here, especially if you're serious about sending this thing out for real," she said, her eyes travelling from her mother to her father. "There's no way in the world the three of us will fit in that forward cockpit section. We'd be all crushed against one another. So, how are we going to do this, anyway? Dad in the cockpit, and you and I in sleeper chambers inside the body of the ship? We're not too close to the engines, I hope. That just doesn't seem like it'd be a good idea."

Her parents looked at each other, and their expressions were odd. They grasped each other's hand as they looked back up at Alex. The emotions playing across their eyes were varied and flying through one after the other, impossible to get a read on just one. "We're not going, Alex," replied Jeremiah. "There was no time to build a larger ship, and this one is just the prototype, so we're not going. We _can't_ go."

"But you just said we were going to preserve our family, and make sure at least a small piece of humanity survived?" Alex asked, clearly confused. She didn't understand at all. The crack of lightning outside and the subtle rumble of the ground beneath their feet made each of them catch their breaths in the back of their throats. "It seems like your estimates were a little off. That ground shaking means we've got not months, weeks or days, but probably hours?"

Jeremiah was already up, and reaching inside the cockpit, making sure everything was working properly. His voice came from the inside of the half alien ship, "Yeah, it's just a matter of hours now. Those subtle rumblings are going to give way to total tectonic collisions and rifts in a day, at most. The planet is going to tear itself apart, and implode in on itself. Between its own magnetic field being severely disrupted, and the forces of gravity that keep the system in the proper positions, it's going to be like crumpling up a piece of paper and throwing it in a trash can."

Eliza took Alex's shoulders in her hands, and kissed her forehead softly, then pushed an errant strand of dark hair from her daughter's face. "We _are_ going to preserve our family and save a small piece of humanity, Alex. We're not going on the ship. _You_ are. We're saving you. You're the only one we can save. Its far, far too late to save anyone else"


	2. Chapter 2

_**Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Earth**_

 **Chapter 2**

" _What?_ " asked Alex incredulously, looking back and forth between her parents, searching for some sign that she'd heard them wrong. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You're sending _me_ , alone, out into space, towards God know what or where? Do you know how crazy that sounds? Surely there's got to be _some_ way to save at least a few more!"

"Alex, please, hear us out, okay?" Jeremiah held her shoulders gently in his hands as he came to stand in front of her, and next to Eliza. "This is it, this is the ship, the _only_ ship. It has room for one person, and one person only. That person is going to be you. It _has_ to be you." His voice was quiet, heavy with emotion as his eyes searched those of his daughter, hoping to see a spark of understanding, of acceptance of what was going to happen, what _had_ to happen.

"But why, Dad? I don't want to be alone, flying through space, and then alone on some alien world light years from here. I don't want to be the only human being left in the universe," she said, her voice falling in volume. Her hands gripped the sleeve of her father's shirt, and her mother's forearm. "What makes you think I'll even be able to live there, assuming that I even make it there? What if I'm just going to be blasted out into space, only to die in some asteroid collision, or get run over by a stray comet or something?"

The two elder Danvers looked at each other a moment, silently agreeing with one another. This was a conversation they'd had between them many times before. This was simply the time the conversation they'd had had its true significance. Eliza brushed Alex's hair from her eyes and lifted her chin. "J'Onn's people had studied space in much greater detail for far longer than we have. He confirmed that there is indeed life on all those planets that we discovered. You won't be alone, sweetheart."

Jeremiah nodded, and drew Alex in for a firm one armed hug. "J'Onn says that the life forms on each of those planets are similar enough to humans that you should be able to survive, and eat the plants and such, with little trouble. Their planetary conditions and environments are a little different, and the atmospheres are not quite like ours, but very close. We wouldn't send you out just for you to die, Allie Bear. We're trying to give you a chance to live, to take part of us, of our culture and identity out into the universe, to pass these things along."

Alex's eyes grew wet when her dad used the nickname he'd called her since she was a baby. When she was little, all he had to do was call her Allie Bear, and suddenly, everything would be okay. Though she was plenty old enough to know better now, the nickname had the same sort of emotional reaction. After she left, she'd never hear it again, never hear her mother whispering that she loved her when Eliza thought she had slipped into deep sleep, or saying it during breakfast, on the way to school, when she gave her a ride to her best friend's house, or any other time. The "I love you's" from both her parents would probably be what hurt the worst, what the gaping hole left in her heart would probably be ripped open from. She'd never be able to tell them she loved them again, either. At least not where they'd hear her, and she'd know they heard her. They'd be gone, and she'd be…somewhere else.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she looked up at her parents again, and clutched them both in a death grip hug, her fingers tangling deeply into their clothing. "It's not living without you, without everything that makes us who we are, that makes me who I am. I may not be here when Earth goes, but I'll be just as dead as you and everyone else is. I'll just be a shell. Don't you guys know that? Can't you see that?"

Her parents each kissed the top of her head, and Eliza once more brushed her hair out of her eyes, and lifted her chin. Her own blue eyes were wet, but she kept them from overflowing. She took a deep breath and caressed Alex's cheek once more. "Alexandra Danvers," she said, smiling both sadly and proudly. "You are so, _so_ strong. You always have been, even when you didn't have to be. You're the best parts of your father and me. Everything that is good and fair and strong, and so much more, about humanity is standing right here in front of us."

Jeremiah patted Alex's shoulder, and nodded towards Eliza with a tilt of his head, but his eyes never strayed from his daughter's. "Your Mom is right, Alex. You're strong, strong in every way it matters. There's nothing that Alex Danvers can't do if she puts her mind and heart towards it. We've seen that every day of your life, Alex. You can do this. We'll live on in you, Allie Bear. We'll be alive as long as you remember us." He turned halfway, and continued with setting controls and double checking the ship, though he was paying complete attention to his family.

"We'll always be with you, sweetie. Always. We love you, and that'll never change, and never stop, no matter what happens, no matter where you are," said Eliza, giving Alex a soft smile. "We're so very proud of you, we always have been, and we both know we always will be."

She reached up and took the chain she wore as a necklace from her neck, and fastened it around her daughter's neck. The weight of the pendant it held pulled it into a V on her chest, and the light of the lab caught in the facets of the blue stone held in the silver ring on the clasp that held it to the chain. It was something she never took off, it was always present around Eliza's neck, as long as Alex could remember. In every memory of her mother to that point, that necklace had always been around her neck. Now, it was around hers, and she'd never felt anything so heavy in her life, even though she knew it wasn't really very heavy at all, but it was weighed down with the mass of the emotions rolling through her at that moment. Her arms wrapped tightly around her mother, and she hugged her like she was drowning, which at that moment, Alex felt like she was.

Jeremiah finished double checking the instruments in the cockpit and he came over to Eliza and Alex with a light smile. Outside, the sky was growing dark rapidly, and the air felt charged with electricity, a subtle reminder of the unusual changing conditions of the world growing more and more frequent. Jeremiah ignored it for the moment, and met his daughter's eyes once more.

"Your Mom gave me this the day she found out she was pregnant," he said, slipping off the silver bracelet he always wore. It was a solid band, thin, and was very smooth. It had no adornment, other than on the inside was an inscription that said, _Our child is our love overflowing._ "I've never taken this off since the day we found out we were going to have you. It was a way I could always keep you close to me, even when I was at work, or you were away, or whatever. There's never been a time that I've looked at this, and not saw you in my mind's eye, Alex."

Alex slowly wrapped her fingers around the metal band and took it from her father. She knew that he felt he was never good at saying how he felt, not even to her or her mother, but he didn't need to be. Alex and Eliza both knew how he felt about them, and how deep those feelings went. She slid it onto her wrist, and made sure it was closed enough that it wouldn't slip off, then she grabbed and hugged her father as strongly as she had her mother.

The lab lurched hard, as if it was a boat slammed by an angry whale, and everything rattled and bounced. Equipment fell to the floor and crashed, some objects were actually thrown across the room, and there was a loud sound, a rumbling like thunder, only it came from under their feet. The floor literally shifted at a fairly steep angle, and the concrete broke apart into three separate chunks. Lightning flashed across the sky, and thunder rumbled, joining in the chorus of the earth's death song beneath them. A loud cracking noise sliced through the air outside, and dust filled the view outside the window as violent winds blew harshly past the building.

"Alex, you have to get in, _now,_ and get going. We've already waited too long as it is!" exclaimed Eliza, and she began quickly herding her daughter towards the ship, and the cockpit. She and her husband were rapidly getting her settled, and showing her where all the controls were. Desperation was heavy on their faces, and they were both talking so fast, she just barely managed to catch what they were saying as they explained the controls to her.

Jeremiah fired up the engines for her, and their distinct roar and whine was audible even over the chaos around them. "We don't even have hours. We have minutes. Remember, Allie Bear, we're always with you, and always will be. I love you, sweetheart," he said, kissing her cheek and giving her hand a squeeze as he stepped down from the ship's side, and was promptly tossed to the floor when the ground shook and shifted again. "Don't worry about us, Alex. Take off!"

The world shook again, the shockwaves stronger this time. Eliza clung to the side of the ship long enough to initialize the cockpit sealing routine, then fell backwards, and caught herself on an overturned table before she completely hit the floor. "I love you, baby girl! Be safe, and learn how to be happy again, for us!"

The ship was on auto launch, Alex knew, as it lifted and began moving as her mother finished her loudly spoken words. A thick, sharp spike of rock thrust itself up through the floor of the lab, stabbing up from some unknown depth within the ground as her ship cleared the launch hatch on top of the lab. She turned to look back as the ship lifted through the hatch, in time to see her parents embrace each other tightly, lying prone on the floor during its aggressive upheaval.

As the ship cleared the hatch, the roof of the building began crumbling down, blocking her view of her parents. She saw her house, or rather what was left of it. Only a single corner was standing, the rest of it was tumbling down the street, or wrapped around several large spears of rocks that rent it asunder. Under the heavily clouded black and red sky, she saw the world doing exactly as her parents predicted, literally tearing itself apart. Pockets of methane, natural gas, and other flammable gasses exploded as rifts tore open in the ground, sending plumes of flame blasting upwards, followed rapidly by molten lava.

The town of Midvale literally ripped into three separate pieces, the explosions and gushers of lava gleefully pouring from beneath the gutted town. She barely cleared the high school gym, which was a full fifty feet higher than it should be, riding the crest of a stone wave that blasted from the torn earth. Alex tried to look back at her home, but all view of it was obscured by the flaming gas, lava, and the funnels of three immense tornadoes that were ripping through what used to be Midvale. The winds ripped and clawed at the ship as it broke through the cloud cover.

The ship pulled clear of the atmosphere and suddenly, all was quiet. The hum of the engines and her rapid breathing were the only sounds audible. The buffeting winds and lightning were gone, and it was a vista of stars, the sun, and distant planets as she soared towards the moon as it wobbled in its orbit, chunks of it already torn from the surface of the pitted sphere. The ship was moving around the rapidly deteriorating moon and heading for the drive jump coordinates.

With tears running down her cheeks, Alex turned to look back at Earth, but instead of the familiar and beautiful blue marbled globe streaked with whites, greens and browns, it was a vision of Hell. The planet had cracked into several pieces, and the core was belching its lava and heat upwards towards what used to be the surface. Bright flares flashed high and wide, and were just as suddenly snuffed out as the atmosphere was rapidly vanishing. With a final few explosions of gasses, the chunks of the planet spread apart, allowing her a glimpse of the bright, burning core suddenly going dark. Pieces of the planet collided with the moon, cracking it apart as well, and just like that, her world was reduced to so much cosmic gravel. Earth was only a memory.

It took the ship about an hour to reach its jump coordinates to launch it into its full acceleration, which carried it past Saturn and several of its moons, then diverted out of the solar system at an angle, heading for a close grouping of stars. The young girl couldn't believe what she'd seen, not even now. She kept thinking…hoping… _praying_ that it was a horrible nightmare, and she'd wake up screaming, and her parents would hold her and assure her that it was just a dream and not real. Unfortunately, she knew she was very definitely awake, and that it might be a nightmare, but it was a nightmare of reality. Her home, everything and everyone she knew, it was all gone, nothing more than rocks and debris. It was _very_ real.

The demise of Earth and its moon disturbed the gravimetric forces of the entire solar system, and Alex was doing what no other human had ever done. She was watching this phenomenon actually occur in real time. She could only see the sun, and the planets that were large enough and close enough to be visible and identifiable, but the effects were very evident even on that small sampling of victims of the effect. She could feel the gravitational forces altering as the ship rocked and shuddered as it flew on its path past the sun as Saturn reached its closest solar approach during its orbit.

A sound like millions of rocks being thrown at the ship at once, like solid rain, grew quickly, but there was no visible debris striking the ship that she could see through the cockpit window. A bright, pulsating flare erupted past the window. It apparently originated from passing back closer to the sun than the path had taken her a bit ago, as the navigational computer adjusted its preprogrammed course. The light pulsed in different wavelengths of colors, and she felt odd. She knew that flashing lights could trigger nausea and other effects in people, depending on the frequency, and their susceptibility to certain conditions, but this felt odd, really odd.

She was warm, warmer than she felt she should be, given the environmental controls carefully controlling the temperature, air pressure, oxygen and nitrogen ratio, and other factors precisely. Finally, the pulsing light flashes were gone, and the ship was fully free of the solar system, and lights changed on the console before her. The hum was changing pitch, and growing a little louder, and then suddenly there was a _whoosh_ and the stars flew past as little more than streaks.

She was moving faster than any human being had ever gone before. She was approaching light speed, she estimated. It would only make sense if her parents said it'd take about ten years to get to where she was going. By her calculations, the ship would eventually even out at what would most likely be two, maybe three, times the speed of light. The stars her parents spoke of were approximately thirty to forty light years from Earth, and if it only took ten years, the math insisted that she would be moving faster than light. If it weren't for the circumstances, and the memories of the horrors she'd just witnessed, she'd have been ecstatic.

Alex tapped a few keys on the console. According to the computer, she was due to go into suspended animation in about an hour. She would have that long to observe things no human had ever seen. Then she'd take the longest nap of her life, and when she woke up, she'd be near her new solar system. The computer had the name of the world she was heading towards, and it was noted that the name was an approximation of what its natives called it. She figured that once she landed, and they figured out how to communicate, she'd eventually learn their language, and how to correctly say the name of her new world.

Numbly, she read the information the computer had been given concerning this place. Its sun was a yellow G6 star, a little bigger than Sol, and its output was a little brighter than the sun she was used to, but perfectly livable. The world was roughly the same size as Earth, only a few miles difference in circumference, and the air content was slightly different in ratios. The planet sounded beautiful, and she'd probably have appreciated it more if she hadn't just watched her world collapse on itself. The water to land ratio was a little different. There was approximately two percent more water than what Earth had.

With a soft sigh, she turned the computer readout off. That was all the astronomy she could handle at the moment. She had the rest of her life to learn more about what was going to be her new home, so she felt she could forgive herself if she wasn't all that excited about it at the moment. Her world had died less than eight hours ago, and that loss, and the loss of everyone and everything she knew, was a little too fresh to start viewing what was happening to her as some grand adventure.

She held her mother's necklace in her hand, the feel of it something familiar, and welcome. She knew it was just her mind trying to cope with the loss, but she felt like she could feel, literally feel, her mother with her, just because she was holding the pendant on the necklace. Alex glanced at her wrist, at her dad's bracelet, and she felt the same about him. She knew they weren't really there, that it was just the feeling of familiarity, especially when contrasted against her grief, but it still gave her an odd sense of comfort.

A shrill, rapid noise suddenly started repeating, and the ship felt like it was being physically dragged from its path as it sped through space. Panic was starting to peek out in Alex's mind and she was fighting hard to push it back and away. The lights and sounds were obviously an alarm, and the computer showed a definite deviation from its predefined course. The radiation levels had increased during the pulsing lights before she left the solar system, but it was well within safe limits. She knew that outside Earth's atmosphere, you'd encounter different types of radiation, and that sort of thing. Astronauts had talked about it, as well as scientists, for decades.

Alex tried to correct the course, but to no avail. The ship slowed, the engine's emergency systems disengaging the translight drive to prevent burnout, or worse, which dropped the ship back into normal space time. When the stars once more became points of light, rather than streaks, she saw it. A strange, circular ring of swirling gas and light was drawing the ship, and her, towards it at a very rapid pace. The ring actually looked like it was spinning, and the corona of the thing was massive enough it looked like a space born Ferris Wheel.

There was visible light inside it, making it look oddly like a porthole on a boat, or a tunnel or something, but there was something off about it as well. It couldn't be a black hole, she thought, not unless scientists were drastically wrong about what one would look like up close. She felt the strong pull, of course, but she didn't feel crushing gravity, or anything that would suggest the presence of an event horizon, at least not like the event horizon of a black hole.

Just from the structure of it, she briefly thought for a moment that it looked like a digital rendering of what an Einstein-Rosen Bridge would look like, but they were just theoretical, weren't they? She couldn't remember if anyone had actually discovered one or not. Whatever it was, it was taking her off course. _As if enough bad shit hasn't happened today,_ she thought sourly. _God, they say You have no sense of humor. They're wrong. You do have one. It just sucks ass big time is all!_

The words had barely passed through her mind when the ship suddenly jolted hard, setting off another alarm, and the ring grew closer at an exponential rate. Whatever it was, she was about to get up very close and very personal with it, of that there was no doubt. "Oh, fucking hell," she muttered under her breath.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Earth**_

 **Chapter 3**

Whatever was pulling her towards the possible Einstein-Rosen Bridge, it was strong and unrelenting. The effect of it was like gravity, it had to be something similar, Alex reasoned. Yet, if it was, it wasn't crushing the ship, her and everything else that happened to get into its reach.

Instead, normal space debris was hurtling towards it, but she could see it actually entering the circular opening beyond the eerie corona, and disappearing into the light she could see within it. The debris wasn't grinding to space dust as it swirled its way into the opening. It wasn't crushing like Earth had just hours ago. It simply travelled. Alex compared it to a baseball hit into the net at a batting cage in her mind. The debris simply entered, and continued on its merry little way.

She was still feeling a bit odd, and according to the computer, which was keeping a constant check on her vital signs and other bodily readings, she was warm, feverish. The young girl felt an odd tingling all over her insides, she had a headache, and there was a slight reddish halo around the edges of her vision, but it wasn't anything that wasn't fading. The readings, while not average, normal readings, weren't anything to write home about, she thought. At the moment, her body temperature was fairly steady at 100.255 degrees. Her blood oxygenation was good, a little low, but it seemed to be rising again. Her pulse was a bit elevated.

 _Let your world, your family, everything and everybody you know be snuffed out in a matter of minutes while your planet collapses in on itself and fizzles out like a wet candle, and see how low_ _ **your**_ _pulse rate stays,_ she thought, feeling a little irritable, but also horribly lost and alone. Of course, there was no one to say these words to out loud, so she kept them silent in her head. Besides, if she started talking to herself, she'd start worrying.

The computer hadn't gone apeshit at her readings, so she figured she wasn't in any danger of dying or anything. The radiation levels of the ship and her body were registering as about twenty percent higher than normal, but it was well within the range a human being could tolerate with no ill effects. She knew that from school, and from all the experiments and such her parents did. Alex was always catching odd little facts like that while listening to her parents, or talking with them about this or that project they were working on.

Her attention was brought back to what was happening outside the ship when it bumped slightly, as if it had struck something, but there was nothing near the ship. Nothing anything close to the size it'd have to be to have caused such a discernible bump, anyway. The biggest thing she could see out there that was close to the ship was about the size of a quarter, and it was close enough that if she could have reached out the window, she could have plucked it from the stars. Even with inertia and being weightless in space, it wouldn't have had that much force behind it to buffet the ship slightly like that.

"Condition Red. Cryogenic Sleep cycle has been suspended. Gravitational anomaly affecting the navigation of the ship. Initiating compensatory protocols," said the computer suddenly, in a friendly sounding feminine voice, though it had a very slight, and very odd accent. It was nothing like anything she'd heard before, but at the moment she wouldn't have cared where the accent was from.

The voice did, however, cause Alex to whirl back around towards the computer console, and then look all around herself in the cockpit of the craft taking her across the stars. She could vaguely remember her parents saying something about the computer was of Martian design, and was far, far advanced over anything on Earth. She bit her lip, and looked back out the window, but asked in a soft voice that unexpectedly cracked, "Computer?"

There was a brief silence, while lights lit up and faded on the console, and other computerized sounds chirped and beeped. Finally, there was a response, "Voice analysis confirmed and verified as owner of this vessel. Voice commands accepted from Alexandra Danvers, all controls and functions locked into input received from Alexandra Danvers. Greetings, Alexandra Danvers. Please state your query."

Alex stared at the computer a moment in shocked silence, as the ship came within a few thousand miles of the thing out there, drawing her in. Finally, she breathed out softly, "Wow…" She couldn't find any other words at that moment. It hadn't even registered that the thing could talk when she was abruptly put into it and shot into space, but thinking back now, it was a vague memory of something her parents had said.

The computer promptly responded, "Query not understood. Input invalid. Please restate your query." It seemed completely unconcerned about the hole outside dragging them towards it, as if this sort of thing happened several times a day or something. The tone of the voice was pleasant, almost conversational. If she'd heard it over the phone, she'd have sworn she was talking to a person, just a really straight laced, oddly speaking person.

 _Why would it be concerned, Alex? It's a machine. It doesn't worry, it doesn't get scared or angry, or anything like that. Get a grip. Maybe it can help relax you, so maybe you can get out of this situation somehow,_ Alex thought to herself, annoyed with the way she was thinking for a moment. Taking a deep breath, she gripped the sides of the seat that were sort of like arms, and replied, "It wasn't a query. It was an excla…you know what? Forget it. What is that thing out there?"

The computer seemed to process that for a moment, and finally answered, "Please specify. It is assumed Alexandra Danvers is referring to the phenomenon presently affecting the functions of this vessel, please confirm." That time it sounded a little more human, oddly enough. It felt strange thinking of a bunch of circuits and processors and stuff as "a little more human."

"Yeah," Alex answered, shifting in her seat to look further outside the window. "Can you…umm…identify or define that…phenomenon?" She was dreading some sort of response telling her that it couldn't make heads or tails out of what she'd just said. If that was the case, she foresaw herself being extremely irritated for the rest of the trip, however long that might be. At the same time, however, it was good to actually hear another voice, even if the voice was an annoying computer.

The wait was much shorter for her answer that time. The console barely blinked before the voice returned. "Affirmative, Alexandra Danvers. The phenomenon currently affecting the ship is a randomly formed spatial displacement conduit, using its simplest definition. The human term for it is not exact, but the name assigned to the concept is an Einstein-Rosen Bridge. The theory formed by Einstein and Rosen is only partially correct, but it is the closest approximation to be found in the human language English. This particular conduit is a randomly and spontaneously appearing event. It is not recorded in this unit's databanks as being stable or regular."

Alex sighed heavily and shifted. In the time it'd taken the computer to answer her question, she'd traveled approximately five or six thousand miles, she estimated, judging from the relative size of the thing. "So, it's a wormhole? Fantastic. What, exactly, does this Einstein-Rosen Bridge do? And for the love of God, _please_ stop calling me 'Alexandra Danvers.' Just call me Alex," she finally replied rather grumpily.

"'Wormhole' is a grossly simplified and inaccurate designation for the phenomenon. Having scanned the human data this unit possesses, it is the typical layman's vernacular for such a stellar event," the machine replied. If Alex didn't know better, she'd think it was mildly insulted. But a computer couldn't be insulted, and it certainly couldn't feel insulted was her thoughts on the matter. However, it continued, "This unit does not recognize the proper noun 'God.' Command confirmed. This unit will comply, Alex."

There was a slight pause before the thing started chattering away again. With its need to be so precise, she'd probably already have hit the thing, gone through it, or whatever was going to happen by the time it actually got around to telling her what she wanted to know. If she survived this thing, that would have to change, she thought.

"The spatial displacement conduit is a pathway in space that connects two points in space in a much shorter length of travel time and physical space. It is commonly referred to as a 'fold in space' according to the human organization NASA's data. Putting it in laymen's terms, it exponentially reduces the time and physical distance necessary to be traveled by the points situated at either end of the conduit. Theoretically, it could serve as a shorter and faster route between those two points, if the conduit is structurally sound and stable," droned the computer. Its voice wasn't a monotone, but it was like listening to the last teacher of the day, just minutes before school let out.

Alex groaned. This thing took entirely too long to get to its point. "So, it's a shortcut? Can you tell where the other end of this conduit is? Here's another question. Do you have a name, or designation, or something I can call you besides 'computer?' Further, is it possible for you to speak…oh, what do you call it…colloquially?" Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't struggle with those types of words. She was an excellent student in school, and her parents constantly praised her for her intellect, along with everything else. She was really, really hoping it was possible for it to speak like a person, otherwise she'd end up opening the cockpit and jumping out, she thought.

The computer was obviously thinking, but soon enough, it answered, "That would be an appropriate colloquialism. The conduit has been scanned, but the scans are refracted, and reflected back by radiation present within its event horizon." It paused for a moment, and then continued. "When constructed, this unit was designed by a Martian scientist, and that designated it by her name, and its framework and operating system was built on the design of her brain. That scientist's name was Jez'Kah Mor'Ahn. This unit does not bear an individual designation beyond a system identification code."

There was a short silence, then, "This unit is a learning and evolving computing system. It is very adaptable, and learns as it processes. As I interact with you, I am able to assimilate your vocal mannerisms, syntax, speech patterns, and even shade responses with approximations of human tone and feeling. I was designed to sound and speak as a living being once I have processed enough data." As it spoke, its tone and manner became more and more human sounding. Its accent was even growing less distinct, and seemed to be adopting Alex's own accent, as all that lived in her area spoke with the same accent on Earth. Hell, its use of language was going from the sterile, antiseptic language of logic to more colloquial speech, like anyone you'd have a conversation with in your average restaurant or school class room.

"Jez'Kah, huh?" asked Alex as she once more looked out the window. The ship was no longer approaching the corona and event horizon. It had passed the edge of the corona and was coming up on what she assumed was the event horizon very quickly. "Okay, I'm going to call you Jessica. Is there any way we can break away from this conduit? If we can't, how long do we have until we're in the damned thing?"

The computer almost sounded happy when it spoke. It was the most surreal and weirdest experience she'd had in a good while. The computer answered her, "I am Jessica, as Alex desires to address me. The strength of the pull is more than the ship can effectively disengage from at maximum power. At this rate of descent, assuming we keep attempting to break free, we will cross the event threshold in approximately ten minutes. However, I caution against further attempt to break the pull on the ship, as it is dangerously close to damaging propulsion systems. If we disengage the engines, and allow it to pull us in, we'll reach the threshold in approximately two minutes."

"Damn," breathed Alex, feeling the tension build in her neck and shoulders. "Since we're going in anyway, is there any danger of destruction, or bombardment by lethal radiation, or particles, or whatever? Short version: is it going to crush us or fry us? Do you know, or can you tell our probable situation once we go into that thing?"

Jessica rapidly calculated readings against odds, and responded, "I have no way of knowing for absolute certain, but observations of other material entering the conduit has not given any evidence of being crushed or otherwise destroyed. From this position, scans of the radiation within the conduit indicate that it is intense, and it does not go beyond four thousand rads, but it does approach, and reach it, in multiple places within scanning distance."

Alex sat back, stunned. What Jessica was telling her was that they wouldn't be crushed, at least not according to information they currently had, but the radiation levels inside went from normal to pretty extreme. "So, what you're telling me is that going through there, I'll be exposed to enough radiation that there's a good chance I could develop cancer, and die within six months to a year, or I may be lucky and not suffer anything beyond intense radiation sickness and nausea?" she asked quietly, looking back out at the hole they were heading towards. "I hope wherever we end up, I can survive there, and their science is advanced enough to treat or cure me."

After a brief pause, Jessica confirmed Alex's guesses. She had been holding her chin in her hand with her elbow on the side of the seat, staring at the thing outside that could very well kill her. "Isn't that just fucking great? Mom and Dad do all this work, all this planning, to save my life and send me out here to some new world, and I could very well die less than a day after Earth was destroyed. I'd rather have just stayed and died with them. At least I wouldn't be completely alone, and the only human left," she murmured morosely.

"Cut the engines, and stop trying to escape the pull. We're going in, whether we fight or not," she finished after a moment. She ran her hand through her hair and sighed again, and she felt a tear running over the curve of her cheek. She missed her parents so much, and even though she had left them less than a day ago, it felt like a dozen lifetimes.

Jessica didn't respond, but the engines went silent, and with them no longer pulling against the draw of the conduit, the ship rushed forward, and slipped over the threshold into the gaping maw in space.

X

Lights flashed all sorts of different colors and patterns, and the ship felt like it was being batted around by a huge kitten, like it was slapping around a ball of yarn. The ship rocked and lurched as the lights flashed, and she felt a lot more feverish than she had earlier. Alex struggled to both keep her seat, and her lunch that she was now wishing she hadn't eaten before all this happened.

"Rads are approaching three thousand two hundred and ten," reported Jessica dutifully. There was what sounded like distress in the computer's voice, as if it was worried about Alex. "Your body temperature has elevated in excess of one hundred five degrees Fahrenheit. Your heart rate is exceeding one hundred fifty beats per minute, and your blood pressure is growing dangerously high. We must correct these conditions at once."

Alex wasn't sure exactly how Jessica thought they were going to correct those conditions, especially with the ship bouncing around in the conduit like a roulette ball, but she just let the computer talk. She had no way of knowing how long they'd been inside the conduit, but suddenly, there was a lurch, the flashing lights stopped, and it was slowly getting cooler. In addition, her heart was slowing down, and not pumping like an out of control train any longer. That had to be positive, right?

There was another lurch, a sharp one, and outside, the weird, almost tunnel like streamers of energy were gone, and it felt like they were spit out by a dragon or something. The ship was rocketing forward at what didn't feel like a controlled speed. The stars appeared normal, though the constellations were in a weird pattern. That had to be something good, Alex was thinking as she struggled to sit up without needing a nausea bag.

She looked up through the window, and saw a red star looming dead ahead, and they were getting very close to a planet somewhat larger than Earth. What appeared to be cities were visible as they were getting closer, looking like little snowflakes of light that were very dim, and they were spread across the land masses of the planet sparsely. In between, the surface looked both reflective, like sand, and blackened like something exploded there. There were other features she could make out, but for the most part, it looked like if you weren't in a city, then you were in a sort of "no man's land."

There was no way of knowing for sure, of course, unless you were there where you could actually see the land close up. She knew it was possible that grass and vegetation and such could be weird, to her way of thinking, colors and formations. It could be a jungle she was looking at, but she wouldn't know until she was close.

The ship rocked, lurched, and jumped as it sped forward, and it was showing no signs of slowing down. If anything, it was going faster, and the temperature inside the ship was rising again. She caught a glimpse of what looked like they could be wispy clouds and such in the atmosphere, but they were more of a yellowish color, or maybe it was the red sunlight making them look odd.

Outside, as they were getting close to the atmosphere of the planet, it felt like they sped up even more, and the outside hull of the ship was starting to glow yellowish orange, heading for red. It was at that moment that Jessica said, "Please secure yourself, and brace for impact."

X

"Kara, don't get too far away from the facility. The wildlife out here isn't as cautious here as they are closer to the city," called out a woman towards a young blonde girl, who by human reckoning was probably around thirteen years old. The girl was dressed in white, with some silver and black trim around the cuffs of the sleeves, and pants legs, and the V neck collar. Below the point of the V was a symbol, an odd shaped five sided shield with a curving design inside it. In her white attire, her form stood out easily against the darker shaded landscape and plant life.

"Alura, its okay, darling. There's a protective perimeter around the grounds near here, so the wildlife doesn't try to get too close to the lab. The sound and smell make them cautious enough to not try to cross it. She'll be okay, she's just excited to be outside the city," said a man, using a tool to tighten a fastener on a device sitting on a work table. Around the room were screens with strange symbols, forming some sort of complex equations one would think if they were looking at them.

The woman, quite beautiful, with dark and wavy flowing hair was dressed in a simple blue garment, bearing the same symbol on her breast as the little girl wore. She turned towards the man, and shook her head, wagging a finger at him. "Zor El, you sometimes indulge her too much. She's exceedingly curious, and you seem to feed that curiosity, making her even more so. She's so determined to do whatever it is that she sets her mind to," she said, wearing a mock stern expression that quickly dissolved into laughter.

The man named Zor El smiled at his wife, and then glanced over his shoulder outside towards their daughter. He lifted a shoulder in a shrug, and lay the tool down, finished with his adjustment on the device. "She's her Mother's daughter, what can I say? Besides, she's got Kerex out there with her. It's programmed to make sure her safety isn't endangered. You programmed Kerex, so its program couldn't possibly be in error or incomplete, right?" he asked, wiping his hands on a cloth and moving to stand next to the woman called Alura.

"Now, you know full well she prefers we refer to Kerex as 'he,' instead of 'it.' I don't know why she feels it necessary to treat it as if it is a living person, but she does," Alura said, still laughing as she wrapped her arm around her husband's waist. They both watched Kara explore the plants and such near them, and a strong gust of wind rushed past with impressive force for such a clear day.

"That's an oddly strong wind," said Zor El, his eyes moving towards the craggy horizon. All across the plain there, marked by bunches of plant life, large patches of crystals and boulders, the wind was making its presence known. He shrugged, dismissing the fact for the moment, and turned back towards Alura. "She's the kindest person I know…other than you, of course. So optimistic, hopeful, and unfailingly kind. I wonder which Guild she'll end up becoming part of. You know why she's out there, searching and looking so thoroughly through the plants and such, don't you?"

Alura smiled, and laid her head on Zor El's shoulder. "She's looking for stones and crystals to make a present for Kal El. She's excited about her new cousin, and going to Kryptonopolis to see Jor El, Lara, and baby Kal El. It's all she's talked about since we got word Lara was about to give birth," she answered.

As they talked, Kara had found several smooth stones, and some crystals that could be easily smoothed out so they wouldn't hurt her newborn cousin. Quite pleased with herself, she was chattering away happily with the robot servant, Kerex, talking about Kal El, going to see her aunt and uncle, and how she always loved going to the capital. Her parents could see her animatedly gesturing and waving her hands around as she talked to the robot.

Suddenly, there was a horrendous cracking sound in the sky, and there was a bright flaming object heading from presumably somewhere distant, and it was heading for a very abrupt and harsh landing very close to where Kara was standing. Whatever it was, it was moving fast. If they didn't know better, Zor El and Alura thought it looked like a one person pod, but no one nearby was supposed to be going off planet anytime soon that they knew of. Of course, someone could have planned it without mentioning it to any of their neighbors or acquaintances, but usually the take off was easy enough to see, and none had left recently.

The loud whine became louder as the object streaked across the sky, and the ground grew darker from its shadow as it got closer to the ground. "Kara!" yelled Alura frantically, pointing up to the sky. "Run, Kara! Get out of the way!" She felt Zor El holding her back so she wouldn't end up in the thing's path instead, and suffer injury or worse.

Kara heard her mother yelling, and waved with a smile until she noticed the ground growing darker, and the sound of the whine. Looking up, she saw something heading directly for her, and it was aflame and smoking. She began scrambling out of the way, running towards where her parents were.

Just as Kara's feet touched the foundation built in front of the cavernous opening in the side of the crystal and rock geological structure, the object hit the ground, and crashed, plowing up a long and deep trench in the ground. The sound of it hitting was like the loudest thunder one could imagine, and the smell of the smoke and fire was choking.

Where the soil was moist, it was hissing against the metallic structure, which had finally come to a stop about a hundred yards from where they stood. The cloud of dust and particulate that it had disturbed in its dramatic slide was still airborne. Without warning, Kara released her parents from the hug she'd embraced them in and rushed towards the thing that fell from the sky.

They called after her, but she wasn't listening. She approached the object, which turned out to be a very odd and strange looking ship, and waved her parents out with her. The heat was easily felt when they got close to it, but Kara had Kerex blowing the dust and smoke back, so they could see the ship better.

Coughing, Kara got as close as she dared, and stood up on her tiptoes to try and get a better look as Alura and Zor El got to where she had been. Suddenly, Kara turned towards them, frantically calling out, "Mother! Father! Help me, help me, please! There's a girl in there. She may be hurt!"

They approached the ship where Kara stood, and as the smoke moved past, they could see inside the cockpit of the ship. Indeed there was a girl. She looked around Kara's age, dark haired, pretty features, even with her face smeared with soot from the fire. Zor El tried to move closer so he could try and figure out how to open the ship's cockpit, so they could help her out of the wreck.

Kara watched her dad for a moment, and then looked up at her mother, with an expression both concerned and tearful. "Who do you think she is, Mother? Do you think she's all right? We have to help her!"


	4. Chapter 4

_**Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Earth**_

 **Chapter 4**

Alura and Zor El looked at each other a moment, and it was evident they were both thinking pretty much the same thing. The ship, or whatever it was, was still hot to the touch, and sizzling in the moist soil it had plowed up. Kara was looking up at both of them with a pleading, and very concerned expression, glancing between her parents and the girl inside the ship. She was very anxious, and her parents could tell that easily.

Zor El moved closer to the ship, being careful not to slide into the trench it had plowed when it had landed. He was trying to get a better look at both the ship, and the girl, who appeared to be unconscious inside the cockpit of the craft. "No, sweetheart, she doesn't look familiar," he answered his daughter slowly, and began inspecting the hatch, looking for some way to open it. "In fact, I don't think she's even Kryptonian. Her clothing is strange, and there's what I think may be writing inside the cockpit, but it's not like any language I've ever seen before."

"You're saying she's from another world?" asked Kara in wide eyed curiosity and awe. Though modern Kryptonians had learned to accept once more that there was indeed life in the universe besides that of the life of Krypton, they weren't very receptive to aliens coming to their world. In the centuries before, Krypton had a thriving space program and traveled the stars extensively. They had even colonized a few planets, and met with hundreds of alien species.

Of course, their presence being known prompted the inevitable contact with hostile alien beings, and forces that attempted to conquer Krypton. Shortly thereafter, the Supreme Council banned space travel completely, which cut Krypton off from its few colonies off world. In addition, the Council approved the creation of an artificial life form known as the Eradicator, whose function was to preserve Kryptonian knowledge and culture at all costs. It also was charged with keeping the Kryptonian genome pure.

Over the intervening centuries, the knowledge that alien life existed had become a much debated, and scoffed at, myth. It was relegated to the status of stories told to children. Finally, approximately two hundred years ago, a scientist named Val El, Zor El's grandfather, determined that alien life was real, and that it existed, and was not myth at all. He had proven it, but in retaliation, the Supreme Council had him arrested, and tried before the Lawmaker's Council.

He was convicted of perpetration of false propaganda, attempting to incite insurrection against the government, and was summarily executed. Shortly thereafter, a renegade Coluan called Brainiac attacked Krypton, and "collected" the city of Kandor from the surface of Krypton. At that point, the Supreme Council could not suppress the knowledge that there was other life in the universe.

Though modern Kryptonians knew, and were aware of alien life existing, and even establishing both formal and casual relations with some of them, Krypton was very strict in its laws governing the presence of aliens on the planet. There were only a small handful of off world embassies allowed on Krypton, and even these were stringently regulated. In short, aliens were not a generally welcome presence on Krypton, and would be dealt with rather harshly, should their presence be discovered. Knowing this, Kara was doubly concerned for the girl in the ship now.

Zor El frowned, and touched the hatch gingerly, testing its temperature, but nodded. "That's exactly what I think, Kara. This design, the writing inside, even the metal it's made out of is unlike anything I've ever seen," he said, thinking of how to access the controls to open the hatch so the girl inside could be helped.

Alura took Kara's shoulders in her hands, and held her close to her as Zor El searched. "If it turns out that she is an alien, what are we going to do? Are we going to just hand her over to the Sagitari, to be taken away and persecuted for simply not being Kryptonian?" she asked, her brow furrowed in thought. She knew all too well what happened in such instances. She was a high ranking Adjudicator on the Lawmaker's Council, as well as the Lawmaker Guild's representative on the Supreme Council, and had handed out many sentences for crimes in her time on the Council. She had seen firsthand the kinds of judgments such things drew.

"Of course not!" replied Zor El, testing the theory of there being some sort of manual latch near the front center of the cockpit, and searching along the side beneath the hatch framework. So far, he hadn't found anything that resembled any sort of latch or release that he was familiar with. The girl didn't seem to be in distress from a low air supply, or anything of that nature, but as far as he knew, she could be just as easily dead. "We don't know who she is, or where she comes from, but she doesn't deserve that kind of fate, in either event."

"We've got to do _something!_ " exclaimed Kara as she waved Kerex over, and indicated for him to scan the ship's hull for something to help her father open it. "We can't just send her away." Kara had barely taken her eyes off the mysterious girl lying in the equally mysterious ship. There were far more questions than answers at this point, she knew. All she knew was that the girl was far away from wherever she was from, she was alone, and she obviously needed help.

Alura closed her eyes. She knew that Kara was right, and she came to the only conclusion she could. "We could take her in, adopt her. We could say that she's the daughter of my cousin, Arn Zee. They lived in Xan City, and when that conflict broke out again between them and Erkol, they were all killed. I doubt anyone would question us," she finally said quietly. She glanced at her husband, looking for some sign of agreement, or disagreement.

Before her father could answer, Kara tilted her head, and frowned. She looked up at her parents once more. "Do you hear that?" she asked slowly, looking as if she was concentrating very hard. "It sounds like someone talking, but the words, they're all…weird sounds. Where's it coming from?" She'd never heard anything even remotely like it. Unfamiliar strings of sounds, and they were muffled as well because they sounded as if they were coming from within the ship.

X

"Alex, please respond. Are you injured? I'm unable to do a complete medical scan on you at this time. Some of my processors were damaged in the impact. Alex, are you able to respond?" asked Jessica over and over after short intervals. The computer was attempting to penetrate Alex's present unconscious state. It was unable to complete a scan of its passenger, and would have to rely on data obtained directly from the source.

Alex suddenly snapped awake, and groaned. She rubbed her forehead and slowly pushed the hair back out of her eyes. The light beyond the hatch was bright, but dimmer than she'd expect sunlight to be. At least she thought it was sunlight. The last thing she vaguely remembered was rushing towards a red star solar system and a planet larger than Earth by probably a quarter to a third of its size. Then things got hairy, and she found herself here, immobile, and hearing the computer in her ears, and it seemed abnormally loud. Groggy, she looked over to the console and replied, "Huh? Jessica? Everything feels…I feel heavy. Is something laying on me? I can't feel anything like that."

She almost thought the computer breathed a sigh of relief when she answered, but that'd be crazy. Still, the computer system, Jessica, was trying to rouse her, and seemed concerned with her current state of health. "What is your status, Alex? Are you experiencing nausea, blurred vision, or tinnitus? Are you having any difficulties beyond the feeling of the gravity of this world being more pronounced?" asked the computer. It was almost sounding like a mother hen.

"No, no, none of that. Just a whopper of a headache, and feeling like I weigh a ton," she answered, trying to get her eyes to stay open, but it wasn't easy. Everything was hazy, but not particularly blurred. She usually felt like this when she hadn't slept much or well and had to get up early. "Wait…you said the gravity here was more pronounced. Like stronger? So we actually did crash land on that weird looking planet?"

"Yes," answered Jessica, attempting to manage a scan of the exterior of the ship. No venting atmosphere was detected, so there wasn't a breach, which was surprising. "I'm unsure of which world this is. There were three stars with this one's approximate specifications and characteristics in the cluster that you were originally planned to come to as secondary options. I'm still trying to determine which star, and therefore which planet, we find ourselves on. And yes, the gravity is stronger than Earth's. Approximately 2.21 G's, with some minor variance."

"No wonder I feel twice as heavy," grunted Alex, trying to shift around in her seat for a moment. The safety harness had activated before, and now she found she could barely move. She deactivated it, and the straps slid away into their compartments. Unfettered, she turned gingerly onto her side, and looked over the instruments that were still operating. "Well, from what I can tell, we're not dead, so that's something, right?"

The computer had been about to comment further, when Alex frowned, and got still, apparently listening to something faint or distant. "Do you hear that?" she asked, trying to scoot around so she could look out the cockpit window, now that the haze was clearing away. "It almost sounds like someone talking, but far away. I can't make out a single word of it. Or am I just crazy?"

She lay back onto her back once more, and jumped hard, her chest heaving in almost a panic. Outside the cockpit, there was what looked like…well, what looked like a man, bumping the hatch with his palm, and motioning towards what she guessed was probably the seal of the hatch. She'd been startled and had jumped back, but the more she looked, the more she was sure it wasn't some sort of dream. There was some guy outside trying to get her to let him in.

She glanced over in the other direction, and saw a woman as well. Maybe she was dreaming? She wasn't sure. They looked human, and now the woman was coming closer, and trying to help the guy motion for her to open the hatch. They didn't look like serial killers or anything, but she was still unsure.

"What…what the hell is going on? What's out there, Jessica? Am I really seeing a human man and woman trying to open the hatch?" she asked suddenly. Her breathing was elevated, and the cuts, scrapes, bumps and bruises were all forgotten about almost instantly. "Or have I finally snapped?"

She hadn't really dealt with the trauma of losing her family and entire world yet, and she knew that. Things had been a little too hectic for her to grieve properly, and to reconcile what she knew to what she could accept. In fact, at the moment, she was sort of numb. Alex knew that before long, it'd finally hit her, and she'd be a huge mass of emotions. Right now, though, her mind was in survival mode. It's all she could do, and all she'd let herself do, survive.

After a few seconds of silence, the computer responded, "You haven't gone crazy, Alex. You are indeed seeing real life forms outside the ship. From what little I can read with my damaged sensors, they are definitely humanoid, but are not human. It's possible they may share appearance characteristics with humans, but they are native to this planet. I'm trying to get a good lock on their language, and compare it to my translation database. If we're fortunate, I'll have it in my library, otherwise communicating with these beings is going to be problematic, and difficult."

Alex let that sink in, and suddenly there was another face at the window, this time a young blonde girl, approximately her age. Her expression was worried, concerned, and earnest. She joined the man and woman in motioning for her to open the hatch, presumably. Then she did something different. She pointed to herself, and then to Alex, and waved her hand in a gesture to include the people with her, and sort of mimed what seemed to be that they were trying to help her. She kept joining her hands together in a way to illustrate one hand pulling the other free, or at least, that's what it looked like to Alex.

She hadn't been sure about the man and woman. They didn't look dangerous, but that didn't mean much, not in her eyes anyway. The girl, on the other hand, there was just something about her. Something Alex trusted, though she couldn't tell you why. Maybe it was the expression the girl wore, and the honesty and earnestness in her eyes, or maybe it could be a million other things. Whatever it was, Alex had a strong feeling that they were really trying to help her. With barely a thought, she decided that she could trust them, she just felt it. She usually went with her instincts, and this time, she was sure it'd be like it always had been. That going with her instincts would be the right move.

"What's it like out there, Jessica? And have you figured out if you can understand them or not?" She knew that the computer was probably at least marginally damaged, so Jessica's abilities and functions would be at least somewhat impaired. She felt bad barking questions at the machine, even if it was just a computer. "No pressure or anything. I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound so snappy."

As she sat more upright, Alex could see the girl looking somewhat excited, at least that's what it'd look like if she were looking at a human. The girl was frantically waving her hands around, trying her best to contain her excitement, and try to convey messages to her, but she was going far too fast for Alex to guess at what she meant. She decided to try some messaging of her own. She smiled slightly, a little quirk of her lips. It didn't last long, but she wondered if the girl understood she was going to trust them.

The girl saw the smile, and beamed at her, with her eyes lit up like neon lights or something. So she at least knew what a smile was, or what it meant, maybe. That was something. She was still very anxious about opening the hatch and being vulnerable to these people, should her instincts be wrong.

"The air is breathable, but its component ratios are quite different than what you're accustomed to," Jessica reported. "It will take your body and respiratory system time to become accustomed to it, and adapt. But it won't harm you, though it may be uncomfortable until your body can adjust itself."

That didn't sound too fun, Alex mused to herself. She'd gone through worse, she figured, though she wouldn't truly know if she had or not until she was out there, instead of in the ship. "I already know the gravity's heavier, so I'm heavier, and I'm going to be moving like a slug. Do you have any idea where we are, who these people are and what language they're speaking? If it's not in your databanks, this is going to go really, really slow. I imagine pretty rough, too."

Jessica was quiet for a couple of moments longer, and finally answered, "I can't get an audible reading clearly enough to make out individual words and syntax. I need to be more directly exposed to it in order to determine anything further than that." Though the computer didn't say it, she knew Jessica meant they'd have to open the hatch.

Alex drew in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "Okay, then," she said quietly, pulling her knees up so she could climb out. "Unseal the hatch and open it. We're not going to get any answers by just sitting here, signing back and forth like Dr. Dian Fossey and her gorillas. It's too bad I can't take you with me, if you can understand them. I'm going to hate dragging them out to the ship whenever we try to talk to each other. Besides, I'll miss you. Surely they'll let me salvage your systems."

As the seal hissed on the hatch, Jessica sounded almost amused. "You can take me with you," the computer said, as the pressure was slowly vented and the life support system was put on standby, just in case. "I'm based on Martian technology, and have most of the capabilities that computers on Mars did. Martians are shape shifters, and their technology generally is as well. Give me a moment."

As the hatch went through the opening cycle, the computer console started changing, subtly at first, but it grew more pronounced. A section of it lifted, looking like magma or something for a moment, before it coalesced into a sphere roughly the size of a baseball, but it swirled with different colors. "All my systems are in this form with me, and I'm repairing them as we speak. If I have any information on their language, and this world, you'll be able to have me translate back and forth, so hope this is a world my makers were aware of. Good luck, Alex."

The hatch lifted slowly, and Alex blinked in the reddish light. As soon as the hatch was open enough where they could comfortably see each other, they began speaking to her. It sounded like they may have been talking slowly, or it may have been simply how their language was spoken, and the sounds were unusual, but had a certain melodic sound to them. The girl was speaking the fastest, and most animatedly. She gestured wildly, with an inquisitive look, which Alex took for what must be the universal question someone would ask in this situation, "Are you okay?"

X

Zor El, Alura and Kara had heard the sounds of a conversation between two voices inside the ship, though the words were unintelligible, even if they had spoken the language. They just weren't sure if she was speaking through a com link to someone elsewhere, or if there was another life form in the ship. It had lasted several moments after the girl woke up, and from the looks of things, she wasn't feeling too well. She moved slowly, and seemed to have to fight just to stand.

"Hello," said Alura, still holding Kara's shoulders in her hands. "Can you understand me? My name is Alura, and this is my husband, Zor El, and my daughter, Kara." She glanced at her husband a moment before asking him, "Could she be a Daxamite?"

Zor El tried speaking as well, hoping that she had some understanding of their language. Since they had no idea where she might be from, it was at least a reasonable hope. "I'm Zor El, as Alura told you. Your ship is somewhat damaged, but not terribly, considering you crashed rather than landed under your own power." He paused, looking for any sign of understanding in her face. Seeing none, he turned to Alura and shook his head, frowning. "I don't think so. Daxamites typically are at least conversational in Kryptonian, just as we are usually at least conversational in Daxamite."

Meanwhile, Kara was trying her hand at reaching the strange girl. "Hello! Are you okay? You don't look like you feel good. We can help, we won't hurt you, I promise." She watched the strange girl a moment, and then patted her chest with an open hand, speaking softly and slowly. "Kara. Kara. My name is Kara," she said, emphasizing her name with pats. Then she held her hand out towards Alex, relaxed and palm up, but definitely gesturing towards her. "What's your name?"

Alex glanced at the three of them, one after the other, and in addition to the heavier gravity, suddenly started wheezing, and coughing. This went on for a couple of moments after Alura and Zor El had tried to communicate. The girl seemed to be telling her that her name was Kara. Then she was obviously asking Alex her name, from the way she was gesturing towards her.

Alex glanced at the sphere she held in her hand, and asked softly, "Okay, you should have some good samples of their language. Do you know where we are, and can you translate?" She dissolved into a short coughing fit as she leaned back to sit down on the curved exterior of the ship, now that it was mostly cool. Wheezing slightly, she could feel her lungs struggling and her heart racing.

Jessica swirled colors for a moment, and finally answered quietly, though it was obvious the others could hear her. "I think so. The language seems to come up as Kryptonian, but the language files may be a little out of date. The planet matches the characteristics recorded about Krypton. They're a highly scientifically and technologically advanced species. They've been capable of space travel and more for approximately two hundred thousand years. I'll attempt a translation into Kryptonian, and if it is their language, you should be in a good position to communicate."

"Great, it can't hurt to try, that's for sure," replied Alex, glancing up at the aliens, noticing them giving her, Jessica and each other meaningful glances. When Jessica gave her the signal, she tried to clear her throat and start speaking, "Alex. Me am Alex name."

Jessica swirled and swished a moment, and then made a couple of chirping sounds. "Oh dear, that was an older library. That might have sounded a little odd. Let's try that again. You should be good to go, Alex." The light swirled and changed hues on the sphere.

The three Kryptonians had given her an odd look, to say the least, when she gave her first attempt at communicating. They seemed to realize that the translation was an older form of their language, though, so they were patiently, if anxiously, waiting. Alex pushed her hair back and tried once more. "My name…name is Alex. I…I'm from…Earth," she said, trying to stop wheezing as she spoke.

The Kryptonians' faces seemed to relax this time around. Apparently, that translation made more sense. At least they were finally getting somewhere! They all looked excited as well, and Zor El tilted his head, and spoke more slowly than usual, making sure Jessica could pick him up and translate back, "Earth? We're not familiar with that world. Is it far? Are you an explorer, or a scout of some sort?"

Kara seemed practically ready to burst at the seams she was so excited, but her mother was urging her to calm down and wait before just launching into a blitz of talking. Meanwhile, Alex listened to the translation, and frowned softly, and shook her head. She hoped their silent gesture for no was the same. "It's gone. Destroyed a day ago. I'm the only…only one left, the only survivor," she managed to get out, still wheezing, but now feeling a flood of sadness rushing up her body. "My parents sent me out here to survive. I was supposed to go to a world orbiting a yellow star somewhere kind of near here, but a wormhole dragged me…or us, I guess…in and we ended up here instead."

Kara excitedly burst out before her parents could say anything further, "Your world's destroyed? Oh, Rao, I'm so sorry. I can't imagine what that's like. It's so terrible. You may be the last survivor of your people, but you're not alone, Alex. We're here for you, I promise you that." Kara's voice was full of true sympathy, and empathy and her eyes spoke volumes. She had slowly come closer and laid her hand lightly on Alex's forearm. "You're safe here."

Alura glanced at her husband, who nodded his head, and then joined Kara close to her. "You are safe here, yes. Our world, Krypton, is somewhat xenophobic when it comes to alien visitors to our world, so we'll have to find a way to keep your true identity a secret." She waited to see if Alex understood that much of what she was saying before she continued, "We wouldn't want to see any harm come to you, because of paranoia caused by events in centuries past. If you will, if you want to, we'd like you to stay with us, be a part of our family, since yours is gone now. I know this sounds sudden, but this is what we've been discussing since we found you."

"We don't share the majority's opinions about alien visitors. We like to think of ourselves as a bit more enlightened than that," said Zor El quietly. "I'm a scientist, in the Science Guild. I believe in empirical evidence, rather than simply being reactionary. Alura is an Adjudicator, in the Lawmaker's Guild. She views the laws on such matters preposterous, but until the Supreme Council can be persuaded to widen its world view, your identity will need to stay a secret, and known by as few people as possible. We can't just set you off on your way. It's our duty to protect you, and since your world is gone, and you have absolutely no one…no one should have to live such a lonely life. If you try, it'll eventually consume you."

Kara touched Alex's shoulder, and shook her head softly. "If we don't help you, you'll either be cast off world, and likely not find a place you can survive, or you'll be executed as an enemy of Krypton. Please, stay with us? We've already got a cover story for you and everything; it's what we were talking about while you were still in the ship. I know it's asking a lot, asking you to basically pretend to be part of our family just moments after meeting us, and even more, trust us when you don't know us or anything about us really, but with the way aliens are seen here, it's our duty, like Father said." She cast a glance at Jessica, who they'd all heard speaking, and even now was translating for Alex. That reminded her of the robot staying a safe distance back until Alex got her bearings, as well as watching for patrols. "Oh yeah, and that's Kerex. He's one of our servant robots. I think you'll like him."

"You must decide quickly, though. The Sagitari will be patrolling, trying to figure out what fell from the sky. If they find you, they won't be very merciful, I'm sorry to say," Alura said, also placing her hand on Alex's shoulder. "If our situations were reversed, and we had to send Kara to a distant alien world to survive, we'd hope and pray to Rao that some kind souls would see fit to take her in, and help her. So, we want to do that for you, if you'll let us."

Zor El was looking skyward, and looking pretty grim. "We'll have to move quickly. This land isn't used for anything, because it's unfit for living on, or raising food, so few people ever come through here. No one knows I've got a lab out here, where I can test projects in the field. We can hide your ship in there, and I'll have some of the robots try to conceal as much of your crash site as we can, and make it look like you came and left, rather than remaining, or even that you were some piece of equipment that broke down."

Alex looked back and forth between all of them, and considered what they were saying. Yeah, it was really weird crashing on an alien planet, and ten minutes later, you've got a whole new alien family. Still, as weird as it sounded, if what they said about their government's paranoia was even half true, she had to do something, and since she couldn't go home, this was the best alternative. Besides, unless they were master manipulators and deceivers, they seemed trustworthy and sincere. Then there was their daughter, Kara. She couldn't explain it, even to herself, but she just felt…no, she _knew_ she could trust her. She'd never trusted anyone that much, especially so soon after meeting them, but something about Kara oozed goodness, and with that, trust. She doubted Kara could hurt a fly…assuming they had flies on Krypton.

"What can I do? I don't have anywhere to go, no one to go to even if I had someplace I could go, and honestly, I just don't think I'd ever have the luck to run into another group of people as kind as you," said Alex, finally. The wind came across the low plain, and blew her hair across her face, prompting her to tuck it back behind her ear. "So, how do we do this? I'm guessing the…what you called them…will be zeroing in on this spot pretty soon?"

Kara took her hand, and Alura took the other while Zor El started speaking with Kerex, and others were coming out of the cavern that concealed the lab. Kara gave her hand a light squeeze, and smiled reassuringly, "Let's get you home. We've got to get things moving and set up, find you a Kryptonian name, and get you settled. Plus, we need to start teaching you things about our culture, society, and language. There's other stuff too, but we should probably start with that."

Alex simply smiled, but inwardly, she was afraid. Not just of what might happen if she was caught, assuming what these people told her was true, but she was on an alien world, with a people she knew nothing about. What would happen if she reacted strangely to something, or if she made some offhand gesture or comment about something she should know all about?

Then, too, there was simply the fear in general, mixed with all those emotions she'd been holding back about Earth being gone, her family being gone, her friends, even those snotty bitches she couldn't stand at school. There was no one, it was just her, and that singular uniqueness was starting to come crashing down on her. However, her gut was screaming to trust Kara, so she would do that, painful or not. So, she followed them, and soon they were on their way to the city nearby.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Earth**_

 **Chapter 5**

The deeper into the city they got the more fantastical and alien it seemed, though it was also beautiful, and elegant. Many of the buildings were amazingly tall, stretching shadows that probably went on for half a mile it seemed, when the sun was in the right place. She practically had her face plastered to the window as they flew in something Alex described to herself as an air car, though she had no idea what it was actually called. Thousands of them flitted and buzzed past them as they approached a particularly magnificent looking building. The red sun hit the glass (at least she assumed it was glass) and metal, sparking dazzling lighting effects for her enjoyment.

"This is Argo City," explained Kara as they flew along at a pace much faster than Alex originally thought. "It's where we live. It's one of several large city states all over the world. The closest one is Kryptonopolis, the capital. That's where we're going soon. My Aunt Lara and Uncle Jor El live there, and they just had a baby, a son, little Kal El. You'll get to meet them too!" She was excited, and Alex couldn't help but feel lifted, at least for a moment or two.

Kara was trying really hard, she knew, and she appreciated it. Kara was trying to make her feel not only welcome, but like she belonged. Alex supposed that she probably _did_ feel like she didn't belong anywhere anymore. She hadn't taken the time to think about that. Her feelings, all of them, were the things she wanted furthest from her mind. If she dwelled too long on them, she'd break down and have an emotional melt down.

"Kara," said Alura from the front of the vehicle, glancing back at the girls. "Take it easy and slow. Alex's computer friend can only translate so much so fast. She doesn't speak our language yet, you have to remember that." Her lips were curled into a slight, understanding smile. She glanced back at Alex and kept that smile. "Please forgive her. She can be highly excitable sometimes. She's thrilled to have you with us, as are we. We hope in time, you'll be able to be happy and content with us, if not precisely thrilled."

Alex glanced up at Kara, who had paused, but her face didn't have a hint of an expression about being admonished about anything. She just seemed to catch herself. Casting her gaze forward towards Alura, she smiled thinly as well. "It's okay," she said, trying to sound more cheerful than she was actually feeling. "She's talking to an alien from a world she's never known. That would excite me, too in her place."

All of them knew what she must be feeling, the loss, the devastation, the despair that crept into her every thought every moment, Alex knew they knew, that they _must_ know, because how could she not feel that way? Yet, none of them were prodding her to open up, to talk about it, or otherwise trying to get all that to come out; instead, they seemed to be trying to show her some semblance of being wanted, being cared for, and not being totally alone in the universe. They seemed to be letting her take her time getting not only accustomed to her new situation, but for her to grieve in whatever way she needed to. They reminded her _so_ much of her parents at that moment, and she turned her head, pretending to be looking at something they'd passed, so Kara wouldn't see the fat tear that was rolling down her cheek slowly.

Unfortunately, Kara either saw it, or instinctively knew she was feeling it, the sadness, and the enormous loss she'd suffered, and the Kryptonian girl wrapped her arms gently around Alex, and laid her head softly against hers. "It's okay to cry, Alex. You've lost so much, so quickly, it has to be such an incredible sadness and weight, burning and tearing you up inside," she whispered softly, so softly that Jessica had to enhance her audio receptors to even pick it up, so she could translate. "You've always got me, and Mother and Father, but especially me to lean on when it gets to be hard for you. I'm your friend, your sister, anything you need me and want me to be. Keep that close to your heart, okay?"

Alex shivered in her embrace, which felt so incredibly heavy, just as she herself felt so heavy. She was far from being used to the atmosphere and gravity, but being in the vehicle helped some. Though it was the same sort of air as outside, it was more filtered and purified. Her lungs and heart weren't having quite as hard a time in the vehicle as they had outside. She wiped the tear from her face as she coughed harshly a couple of times, and cleared her throat as best she could. Alex wondered how in the hell she even knew that she was crying?

Normally, Alex would have put up the tough girl face she put out for everyone, that girl that always has everything under control that can handle anything and everything you throw at her, and come back for more. As she looked up at Kara, who was looking at her, with her face in such an expression of true understanding, and with the most compassionate eyes she'd ever seen in her life, she felt she could just be Alex, not Alex the badass. She didn't _have_ to be anything but who and what she was right then, in that moment.

"I will, thanks, Kara," she said softly. Her voice was ragged and raspy, and she swallowed hard a couple of times after she spoke, trying to get it to sound like something remotely normal. She allowed Kara to give her a light squeeze, a gesture of support without pushing, a gesture of caring without prying. It was easy to forget that she was in a vehicle surrounded by aliens, they were so… _human_ to her, or at least the way humans tried to be. The way humans _should_ be, but most often were not even close.

Alura and Zor El both glanced back at the girls, and then at each other, then smiled softly together. It seemed the girls would get along very well, and it seemed like Kara was getting through to Alex, little by little. Kara's hope and optimistic ways had a way of being infectious. With any luck, Kara could find a way to give Alex back some of the happiness and peace that she'd lost so suddenly and so brutally.

X

Three days had passed, three days that Alex woke up every morning to sunlight that reminded her of the light present near dusk or dawn on Earth, and found herself in a very different place than where she was used to. Every morning, she had breakfast made from food on an alien world, light years from her home. The food was good, a mixture of real fruits and vegetables, synthetic versions of the same, and meat (it tasted like some sort of meat anyway) that she had no idea what its origin was.

Truth be told, she wasn't absolutely sure she wanted to know, though from what she'd learned about Krypton so far, she was sure it was some amazing scientific method or something. Nothing as barbaric as slaughtering animals in the manner humans did. If they did use actual animals, she was sure it was much more forward thinking. In either event, whatever they did, it was delicious. It wasn't sausage or bacon, or anything like that, but it tasted pretty much as good. She had no complaints.

Her time in the Zor El household had been put to good use. They'd gotten her some clothes, something much more in line with the type of clothing Kryptonian girls her age wore, and it had the House of El symbol on it, like what Kara, Alura and Zor El wore. To her, it looked like an "S," but when she had asked about it, they told her it wasn't a letter, but a coat of arms for their House. She had started learning Kryptonian, and between Kara and Jessica helping her, she could carry on a decent, if somewhat simple, conversation in the language already.

She knew she was by no means ready to go to a store, or out on the street, or speak with visitors they may have, but simple stuff she'd gotten already. Once breakfast was done, she helped Alura clear away everything, and she was thrilled that the Kryptonian equivalent of a dishwasher was so much easier and faster than a human contraption. That meant it was time to spend time with Kara, learning about Kryptonian culture and society, history, and the history of her new House.

As she and Kara sat in the gathering room, they called it, she tilted her head, looking at Kara. "I know this is probably a weird question, but…shouldn't you be in school or something? Or do you not have school here?" Every day Kara had been home with her, helping her. Unless Kryptonian weekends were longer than Earth weekends, that meant she had been missing school, assuming they even went to school. She could see Alura through the open door leading towards the kitchen, smiling that light little smile she seemed to have on her face a lot.

Kara blinked at her a couple of times, and then tilted her head. "It's not a weird question, not at all. We have schools and we go to school, yes. I'm in the last few years of my general education before I go to the university, and join a guild afterwards. You have school on Earth too?" She winced as soon as she asked, because she used the present tense instead of the past tense usage, and too, she was pretty sure it would just make Alex remember pain all over again. She knew the Earth girl thought of it a lot, but she'd slowly seemed like she was settling a little more. Kara didn't want to hurt her like that. "I'm so sorry. I…I didn't mean…"

Alex reached over and gave Kara's hand a light squeeze, and shook her head. Just that movement, as simple as it was, felt like she'd run a marathon, but it was worth it. "Hey, it's okay, Kara, I promise. We had school too, yes. You started off in elementary school, and then went to middle school, some places had a junior high school, others didn't, and then you went to college, or a university or something. We spent a lot of time in school, actually," she said, trying to make it seem as if the comment hadn't bothered her, even though she knew Kara knew it did. She didn't want to hurt her, in turn, by making her feel guilty.

Kara smiled softly, and nodded, covering Alex's hand with her own a moment. "That doesn't sound too much different than here, though from what you've said, we study a bit more advanced subjects earlier than you did. Then again, we've had a lot more time as a people to study and master things your people were just discovering. That by no means makes us any smarter, it just makes us more experienced at it," she said, watching Alex's face, hoping she didn't just say something else stupid, or hurtful.

She would never hurt Alex intentionally, no matter what. In the short few days they'd known each other, the two girls had gotten to know each other very well, and become very close. Alura and Zor El had said to each other, in private conversations that the girls were unaware of, that except for the language, you'd think the two were actually sisters. There was a bond there, already; a bond that seemed as if no force in the universe could break. They felt close to their new charge, as well, but Alura and Zor El neither one had the sort of bond with her that Kara did.

There were hiccups, of course. Kara and her family would have been very surprised if there hadn't been. Alex was a lone human being on a planet light years from her home, further than any of her people had ever traveled before. The language and society was much different than Alex's own had been, sure, but there were so many other things as well. There were pieces of simple household technology that startled her, and even sometimes frightened her, for example. It seemed that not being able to go outside the house, and enjoy being alive got to her most of all. The El family thought that it might even feel like she was somewhat caged, though she knew that was far from the case.

What concerned them most of all was the fact that Alex had yet to really even begin grieving her unfathomable loss. She was strong, that much was more than evident in everything she said and did, but that outer strength was keeping a planet full of emotions, pain, loss, sadness, despair, and so many other things locked away, deep inside the girl. It was like she was trying to prove herself strong to someone that was no longer there to see it. Sooner or later, that wall was going to crack and crumble, and not even Rao knew what would be left once it did, and that made each of them feel a very profound pain and sadness for someone they were coming to love as they loved each other.

"I think so too. Your people have such a long and rich history of amazing discoveries and advancements, compared to Earth. We must sound like primitive beings, hardly more than animals to you, to hear what we had accomplished in our history," Alex said, seriously, but also teasing Kara a little. "Considering that we're not studying advanced astrophysics and calculus by our fourth or fifth year in school, yeah, I'd say you're a bit more advanced than we were."

Kara's mouth dropped open in shock, and then the stark fear that she'd hurt Alex's feelings. "No, no, that's not what I meant, not what I was saying. I only meant that-" she immediately blurted, wearing a horrified expression. She was genuinely worried she'd said something terribly wrong, and the earnestness and empathy in her eyes shone through like shooting comets.

Alex cut her off, putting her hands on Kara's shoulders, and smiled, shaking her head. "I'm only teasing you, Kara. I'm sorry; I wasn't trying to seem mean. It's just a thing my people do…did. It's meant to be funny, not hurtful. You know I wouldn't be mean to you, don't you?" Alex asked, still holding onto the Kryptonian's shoulders gently. Her arms felt like lead weights, but she was getting stronger. She was able to move around more without as much difficulty, and without as much need for rest. She was by no means turning cartwheels, but she didn't feel like a stone snail anymore. She felt more like a stone turtle, a step up on the speed chain.

Just as Alex was saying this, Zor El came into the room. He'd apparently gotten home earlier than usual, and he smiled, listening to the both of them a moment. He had a small kit in his hand, or at least that's what Alex guessed it was. He knelt down next to them, and patted them both on the shoulder. "Hello, girls. I may have some good news. I may have something that will help your body adjust more to our gravity, Alex. I need a sample of your tissue and DNA, if you don't mind?" he asked, setting the kit down beside him.

Kara and Alex looked at each other a moment, and then Alex shrugged, and smiled lightly, trying to make sure that outer mask of strength didn't crack. "Yeah, sure, Zor El, that's fine," she answered, intrigued by what he had done, or was planning. "What do I need to do? And will it hurt?" She hadn't learned anything about how their medical practices worked, how they took samples and that sort of thing, but she'd figured it was all pretty far above what Earth had progressed to.

The Kryptonian chuckled softly and held up two instruments. Both of them were small, and they both looked like something you'd keep in a shirt pocket, rather than in a medical kit. "You know, you don't have to call me by my full name. If you're being casual, it's perfectly acceptable to call me 'Zor.' Given and House names are usually reserved for formal interactions, when you aren't personally acquainted with the person, and things of that nature. But to answer your questions, no, it won't hurt, and you need only be still a moment," he replied, and he lay the first instrument on the inside of her forearm, let it set a moment until a light glowed, and then removed it. Tucking that one away, he held up the other.

"For this one, I just need to touch your finger with it, like this," he said. Alex held her hand up, and Zor El touched the instrument to the tip of her finger. There was a slight, brief tingle, and then he tucked it away as well. "See? I told you, no pain at all. I've built you an exoskeleton to use temporarily, to help your body compensate for the gravity. It's in the lab downstairs, actually. It's fairly easy to conceal, but if anyone saw it, it would raise questions.

"Therefore, I'm working on a serum to make a slight modification to your DNA, which will make your physiology more adaptable to our environment. It should help with your adaptation to the atmosphere as well. It won't alter anything but that, and you won't be some sort of creature, I promise." He chuckled softly, and closed the kit back up.

Alex laughed softly, and nodded. "It's okay, I trust you, Zor," she said, making sure to show that she had listened to his explanation. "If it'll help me, I'm all for it. No offense, but your world isn't exactly friendly to my kind, physically."

"No, it isn't, and I'm sorry for that. But, if this is successful, it'll help you adjust very well, I think," he rose to his feet as he spoke, and tucked the kit into his shirt, presumably in a pocket. "Oh, and do you mind if I borrow Jessica for a short while? She has information on your genetic profile, and what's normal for your body. With her help, I can make the serum better adapted to you."

Alex glanced at the sphere that Jessica had morphed herself into a moment, and then shrugged, "No, not at all, unless she has objections, which I'm pretty sure she doesn't. It'll give me a chance to practice my Kryptonian, and try and work on my accent." There was a feeling of relief inside her. The news Zor El had was indeed good, because she thought she may not feel like so much of an alien if she could at least function like others, instead of feeling completely and totally out of place and helpless.

After Zor El thanked her and left, Kara stood up and took Alex's hand. "Come on," she said quietly, glancing back over her shoulder. "I want to show you something, if you'd like? Maybe it might make you feel a little better?" When Alex nodded, she smiled, and then called out, "Mother, Father, we'll be back soon. I want to show Alex my spot."

Alura called out from the other room, "That's fine, Kara. Make sure you listen to Val, okay? Only touch the things he allows you to, and don't have the skimmer set to go faster than the speed limit." There was a serious, yet still sort of teasing tone to her voice, or at least that's how it sounded to Alex's ears.

Kara assured her mother that they would, indeed, listen to Val, and keep the skimmer set at the appropriate speed. When that was settled, Kara led Alex out to the parking building, and powered up the skimmer after they were inside.

X

Alex wasn't sure how long they'd been flying, though it seemed like it was a while. The whole time, Kara had been talking small talk, things like places she wanted to go, boys she had a crush on, and the other types of things early teen girls talked about. Alex was surprised that this sort of conversation she could have been part of in pretty much any girl's bedroom during a sleep over. That was one thing that was at least familiar to her.

They headed for a large crystalline structure that stood out near a barren plain near Zor El's lab, where she had first landed. Most of the rock formations here were crystalline, she'd noticed, and the crystals were a natural resource, used for any number of different purposes. They served as data storage, recorders, and even power sources like the deltahedron that Kara had shown her before, which powered their house. Stronger devices such as it could power entire cities, large ones.

Structures such as this were formed from natural crystals, like Kryptonian mountains were. The buildings in the cities weren't too dissimilar in appearance from skyscrapers and such on Earth, but out here, places like this were more prominent. Alex turned to Kara as the skimmer smoothly entered the door that opened and parked itself in what she assumed was some sort of parking area. "What is this place?" she asked Kara.

They climbed out of the skimmer and moved down a corridor leading into a large open area. There were several levels to it, and very advanced equipment placed throughout most of the cavernous chamber. Kara smiled, and took her hand again, and moved to a large round area, with computers along the outside of the circle.

"This place belonged to my great grandfather, Val El. He's the man responsible for making the world acknowledge that alien life existed, after centuries of isolationist philosophy. This was his place that he would work, that he would come to find quiet, and let his mind work," she said, as she spoke to the computer to turn it on.

Stepping to the center of the circle, she still had Alex's hand in hers, and she smiled lightly. "This, though, is my favorite part," she said with a smile, waving a hand around to encompass whatever it was that they were standing in the middle of.

"I thought _I_ was your favorite part, Kara," said a voice from behind them. They turned to see an older man, with white hair and a white beard, but very healthy looking, and quite active smiling at them. "No hello for me or an introduction? Who's our guest?" The man's face and eyes were kindly, and he reminded her of Zor El, she thought.

Kara laughed, and turned, shaking her head as she did, and she smiled. "I'm sorry, great grandfather. Of course you're my favorite part. I meant this is my favorite part of all the equipment here," she said, giving Alex's hand a light squeeze. "Great grandfather, this is Alex. She's from a far off world called Earth, and she's their last survivor. We're adopting her, so she knows she's cared for and not as alone as she must feel. Alex, this is my great grandfather, Val El."

Alex was a little nervous, and it showed. Kara's description of why she was here hit closer to the mark than she realized, and it felt good to know that someone alive cared about her. She looked between the older gentleman, and her friend, and she could be called family now, Alex thought. "Hello, sir," she said slowly. "Please forgive me; I'm still learning the very beginning stage of Kryptonian."

As the older man smiled, she leaned in to whisper to Kara, "This is your great grandfather? The way you were talking, I thought he'd died. He proved that aliens exist over two hundred years ago, you said." For a two hundred and something year old guy, he looked pretty healthy and spry, Alex mused to herself.

The man chuckled and waved a hand. "There's nothing to forgive, dear girl," he replied. "There are some natives to Krypton that could stand to learn a bit more about the language. Kara here is not among them, though I'm sure you know that already. And incidentally, Kara's description of me is not _entirely_ accurate. I'm a holographic artificial intelligence program. I have all of Val El's memories, and his personality, as well, so I am as close to being Val El as you'll ever come, but my true self has been dead for quite some time."

Alex was shocked again. They had AI on Earth, of course, but nothing on Val El's order, and definitely not one that seemed so incredibly alive. They small talked for several minutes, and finally the man had given them leave to use the equipment they were with. He disappeared, presumably he relocated himself to another part of the chamber, and they were alone.

Kara spoke to the computer briefly, giving commands that sounded roughly like a location, maybe, or something like that. She wasn't familiar enough with the words to really understand it. The computer, however, did understand, and it complied quickly.

The chamber disappeared and she found herself standing at the top peak of a mountain, overlooking a wide valley, with a yellow sun slowly setting on the horizon. The valley was lit up by lights from a massive city, which seemed large enough to dwarf the New York metropolitan area, which was the largest city by land area on Earth. The mountain they stood upon was an odd purplish color, and the vegetation seemed many colors that weren't any combination you'd see on Earth.

The vista she stared at was beautiful, an amazing sight, something out of a dream. She reached out to touch a flower, expecting her hand to pass through the lonely plant, the only thing growing in the area they were in, but instead, the silken petals of it brushed over her skin. She pulled her hand back, and stared at it, then the flower, then back at her hand. Her brow furrowed as she looked around her. The lab, or chamber, whatever you chose to call it, was gone. They were standing on the top of a mountain, looking over a valley.

Finally, she found her voice. She nodded towards the flower, and back at Kara. "It's _real_?" she asked, shock still in her voice. "What…how…where _are_ we?" She could hear her voice rising in pitch, and there was that cold, sharp feeling rising in her chest, the fear she kept so deeply hidden inside trying to claw its way out.

Kara smiled, and wrapped her arm around Alex's shoulders, guiding her to sit alongside her as the distant sun moved further down the horizon, and above in a violet sky, bright stars shone bright, even outshining the moon visible in the expanse overhead. "We're still in my great grandfather's fortress," she answered, rubbing her hand softly in circles over Alex's back between her shoulder blades. "This is an interactive hologram chamber. The holograms it makes are so real to the senses, you can literally believe you're truly there, or experiencing whatever you want to see. Things seem solid, characters look, sound and act like real living people, and if you didn't know you were in a hologram chamber, you'd never guess it."

Alex stared at the valley in awe, and listened to Kara. _This kind of thing was just science fiction on Earth. This is amazing, it's unbelievable, but I'm experiencing it with my senses. It looks, sounds, smells, feels, and tastes real._ She finally found her voice, "It's amazing. Where are we, Kara? It's so…beautiful." Kara's arm around her, and then her hand rubbing her back felt good. It reminded her of her best friend, Lauren, and the way they'd sit and talk forever, and give each other comfort when they needed it. They were close, like sisters, but Alex didn't have her anymore. But being with Kara there, like that, sharing that view, it was like being with Lauren all over again.

"It's a world called Starhaven," Kara answered softly, leaning to rest her head softly against the side of Alex's. She could feel the human girl struggling to hold in everything that was boiling inside her, and it was a struggle that she was losing. Every moment, she lost more and more ground against those locked away feelings, and Kara wanted, she _needed_ to be there for Alex, to show her it was okay to feel those things, and to let them out.

"Even the name is beautiful," murmured Alex softly. Inside her, she could feel herself losing the fight that she'd been fighting since her parents told her what was happening. All that grief, all that pain, all of it was threatening to spill over her defenses and consume her like a tidal wave. "It reminds me of when my parents and I would go camping in the mountains near Midvale that looked out over the valley. At sunset, looking at the cities…it was so calming. All gone…it's all gone now."

She breathed heavily, and Kara could feel her body heaving against her side. "Mom…Dad…every goddamned thing and every damned one _gone!_ " she screamed, as she slammed her fist into the ground so hard, Kara was afraid she'd broken it. She was afraid to disturb Alex, to ask if she was okay. It was coming; there was no stopping it now. The storm inside her would rage until she grew too tired to keep going, and then it'd build up again to explode later, over and over, until she finally dealt with what she was feeling.

"Why? _Why?!_ If my entire world _had_ to be destroyed, why would You do it, why would You not give me an answer, a sign, _anything?_ Why did You destroy my entire world, and keep _me_ alive? _Why, goddamnit!_ " screamed Alex, pounding the ground again and again. Her eyes were tightly clenched in anger and pain, and the sound of her voice broke Kara's heart, to see and feel all that anguish come pouring out of her. "Tell me _why_ I get to live, and everyone else died? The whole fucking world crumbled in on itself like broken Oreos, and here I sit, alive and well, with _nothing_ left, nothing but memories that haunt me every time I shut my goddamned eyes! I should have died, and someone else should have been on that goddamned ship!"

Alex's eyes exploded with tears and a wordless scream of despair and rage stormed from her very core, like nothing Kara had ever seen before, like nothing she could even imagine, and she quickly reached over and grabbed Alex in a tight hug and held her against her shoulder. Alex was struggling, but Kara didn't think she was struggling against her. She just held the human tighter, and stroked her hair, her own eyes releasing tears in thick rivers, hating to see this tearing Alex up as it was. Kara held her, hoping she'd ride her rage out until she was too exhausted to pour out any more until she'd regained her strength again, in what she hoped would be days, but knew it'd be more like hours, most likely.

When she felt Kara's arms grab her, she clutched her fingers tightly in the fabric of the top Kara was wearing, and buried her face in the space between the Kryptonian's neck and shoulder, and sobbed, just screaming in incoherent sounds. Her tears bled into Kara's clothes, and her body convulsed for long, long moments, until she finally seemed to have let it run its course for the moment, and just collapsed into Kara's embrace, making choked little sounds that were muffled against her shoulder.

Kara rocked her gently in her arms, holding her close and tight, crying for her, crying _with_ her, and let her stay there as long as she needed to. When Alex's sobs and screams had subsided, and she just made soft sad sounds that got lost in Kara's shoulder, Kara stroked her hair softly, still rocking her, and whispered, "I wish more than anything I could take away your pain, and that I could give you back your world, the people, the family, everything you lost. I can't, but what I can do is show you that you have a new life now, a new family, a new start."

Alex shuddered in a long, deep sob, and her fingers tightened more in Kara's clothing, while Kara's arms tightened around her. She kissed the side of Alex's head softly, and brushed her hair back gently, and whispered, "No matter what, I'll always stand by you, _always_. You're my family now, my sister, and nothing will come between that. Stronger together, remember? We are stronger together, and we'll always be together." She paused, rested her cheek against Alex's hair, and closed her eyes, pushing more tears out to join Alex's on the fabric she wore.

She continued to rock Alex, and kissed the side of her head once more. "Always, Alex. You're _not_ alone. We're family, and I love you, Alex."


	6. Chapter 6

_**Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Earth**_

 **Chapter 6**

Alex gripped the younger girl tightly as the words hit her ear, and it was like the grip of a drowning person, someone that was hanging on to that life tenaciously, refusing to let go. She thought maybe she might hurt the thirteen year old Kryptonian, but she made no sound, or move for Alex to release her. She held her, rocked her, until she finally quieted down.

After a long silence, just the two of them sitting there, rocking, Alex whispered back in a shaky voice, "I love you too, Kara. I love your family. I…I don't know what I'd do if I hadn't pretty much fallen into your laps." She sniffled loudly, and tried to clear the tears from her face, but without much luck. Her eyes were red rimmed, and bloodshot, sure fire signs that she'd been extremely upset.

Her face burned with embarrassment, she couldn't believe she'd just let that happen, and in front of a virtual stranger, no less. She'd known this girl and her family for less than ninety six hours, less than four days, and here she was losing her shit in front of this girl who probably didn't know what to think or how to take what she was saying and doing. _She probably thinks I've gone completely crazy,_ thought Alex, though the Kryptonian still held her. Her presence was strong, and steady. Her actions matched her words, and the feeling that Alex got from them.

 _I can't believe I let her see me in a huge moment of weakness. I never let_ _ **anyone**_ _see me cry, not like this. Mom, Dad…I just miss them so much; I see them every time I close my eyes. I see the world literally fall in on itself every time I close my eyes, and every night when I dream. I know Kara's got to hear me waking up screaming, and then clutching my knees to my chest. She's only across the room from me._ She shuddered in Kara's arms, and tried to gain at least a little control of herself. _I'm sure Zor and Alura have heard me too, but none of them have pushed me. They've let me deal with it until I say I can't, or I deal with it and get through it. They've been exactly what I needed, especially Kara. How can I possibly repay them, or even thank them?_

Kara slowly let her go when she was sure that Alex would be okay just sitting close to her, instead of needing that anchor that Kara was being at the moment. She smiled softly at the alien visitor, someone she felt like she connected with on every level. Someone who couldn't be more her sister than if she were actually blood and born on Krypton to her parents. It'd been less than four days, but they'd managed to bond in a way Kara could never have foreseen, and would never have expected. It was a welcome feeling to be that close to someone.

Kara took Alex's hand and gave it a firm squeeze. Her own eyes were red rimmed, and her nose was stuffy. She'd cried with Alex, she'd shared her pain, took some of it upon herself, and helped relieve some of Alex's terrible, horrible burden, she hoped. She wanted to see Alex safe and happy, though she knew it'd take a good length of time before that was so. However long it took, Kara would be there. She promised that she'd always be there for Alex, and she kept the promises that she made. She would never, _could_ never abandon her sister, because regardless of the shortness of the time they'd known each other, Alex _was_ her sister. She would not hear any words to the contrary.

"You'll never know, nor have to know, because you did," she said, trying to smile through the blurry vision they both had at the moment. "I know it doesn't feel like it, not right now, but this is your home now. We are your family now. We can't replace your family, or your world, and we know that, and aren't trying to. We just want to be here for you, to love you and care for you like your own family did. We hope… _I_ hope to someday see you happy, Alex. In our minds and hearts, you're a gift from Rao. We believe that you came to us for a reason, a reason none of us may understand, but a reason, all the same. Whatever it is that we can give you or do for you, you have no idea how much you do for us and give us."

Alex looked up at Kara, peeking through the mass of hair that had found its way into her face during the breakdown. The corners of her lips turned slightly upwards for a brief moment. It was the closest thing to a real, honest smile she'd felt on her face since she'd climbed out of that ship. "You give me a lot more than you think… _sister._ All of you do, and I wish I knew how to tell and show you that, how to thank you for that." The corners of her lips had risen a bit higher when she'd called Kara sister, and it felt right to Alex.

Kara felt a tingle of delight race its way up her spine when Alex called her that, and she immediately drew the older girl into a tight hug. "All you have to do is try to let us love you, and be a family for you. Really simple, wouldn't you say?" asked Kara, still holding on to her. She'd always been very touch oriented, the kind of girl that communicated greatly through physical contact with someone, and it was her way to pat Alex on the shoulder, or hold her hand, or hug her to show some of what she was feeling. She just hoped Alex didn't think she was strange.

The only people Alex had ever really been much of a touch person with was her family. Even her friends never got that far behind her shields, never got that close to whom Alex was under the badass, tough exterior. She'd normally stiffen and flinch when someone would hug her, or that kind of thing, out of reflex. It made her very uncomfortable. However, Kara doing it didn't make her uncomfortable. If she was honest with herself, she actually kind of liked it. It just further made her start thinking of Kara and her family, and feeling as if they were family to her now.

"Yeah, that's pretty simple, I guess," Alex answered, the smile broadening, despite her not thinking she was capable of it at the moment. She suddenly frowned, and looked down at herself for a moment, and then looked around the fortress. Her hand went to her chest, and she held it there for a moment, paused, and then looked at her hands, both front and back. Her expression was confused, and she cleared her throat several times.

Alarmed, Kara reached out and touched Alex's arm. "Alex! Are you okay? What's wrong?" she asked as she scrambled to her knees and then to her feet, helping Alex stand as well. "Can you breathe? Are you in pain?" The pitch of her voice was rising with each question, and it was obvious that she was worried, and concerned.

Alex got to her feet when Kara helped her up, and she kept looking down at herself, and then around again before she looked at Kara. "I…I don't know. I feel weird, hot, and a little light headed, but I'm not tired like I was before, and every move doesn't feel like I'm swimming in quicksand," she answered, completely bewildered. "It's still difficult to move, thanks to the gravity, but it's a lot easier than it was just a few days ago." She experimentally jumped, and rose nearly a foot off the floor. She could barely clear an inch when she first arrived.

Kara watched her, elated but also concerned. She touched Alex's arm gently and nodded towards the skimmer. "Maybe we should get you home? Maybe Father can tell us what's happening, or if he found anything in the lab work he was doing on you. Whatever it is, I'd really like to hear it," she said, leading the way back out of the fortress to the parking port.

Alex climbed into the vehicle with Kara, who started it up, and set the auto pilot for the course back to her house. She couldn't help but keep staring at her hands, and the rest of her. "Yeah, I'd like to hear it too," she said. "This isn't making any sense. It feels good, aside from the weird sensations, but I'd like to know what I'm feeling and what's causing it."

X

The girls were waiting in the gathering room, sitting and talking amongst themselves, when Zor El and a man that looked remarkably like him came into the room. The other man was obviously another person, but the resemblance was very strong. _There's no doubt they're related,_ thought Alex wryly, still trying to sort out what exactly she was feeling. _They couldn't deny each other if they tried._

"Uncle Jor!" squealed Kara excitedly, and leaped from the couch to practically tackle the other man with a tremendously tight hug. She was still holding onto him as she practically danced around in circles for a moment, but she finally let go. She straightened herself up, and manically waved Alex over. The human thought they may need to build a ship to go after her, because she seemed like she was headed for orbit. It was amusing, but it was also nice to see such excitement on Kara's face.

The man she called uncle chuckled and stroked her hair as he tried to keep his balance under Kara's deadly hug assault. "Hello, Little Star," he said still laughing, as he put his hands on her shoulders. Next to him, Zor El was covering his mouth, covering a not so clandestine smile. Jor El glared at his younger brother a moment, and then winked at him. "By Rao, you've grown since we saw you the week before Kal's birthing day. If you keep growing like this, you'll be taller than Zor and Alura before you're sixteen. So, how is my Little Star, hmm?" He was looking at her carefully. Her eyes were still red rimmed, and she sounded stuffy, as if she had a cold.

Alex slowly came to where Kara was talking to her uncle, and tried not to get too close, so she wouldn't interrupt, but Kara grabbed her and practically yanked her closer, and put her arm around Alex's shoulders. "I've been good. I took Alex to see great grandfather's fortress, and the holographic chamber," she bubbled, unable to stop smiling. She nodded towards Alex at her side, and gave her shoulders a squeeze. "This is Alex, Uncle Jor. She's part of our family now. Alex, this is Uncle Jor El, Father's older brother, and he's also a scientist, like Father."

Jor El turned his gaze towards her, and his face was friendly, and welcoming. "So, you're Alex? It's a great pleasure to meet you. I've heard many, many good things about you from Zor and Alura, which I had no doubt of," he said in a warm voice. His face sobered a bit, and his voice turned soft, and respectful. "I'm terribly sorry to hear about what brought you to our world, Alex. May Rao's light shine on the souls of your people, and guide them and your family to the Eternal Light. I hope your heart becomes lighter as you remain here, and you learn what family and their love can feel like again. You are family, and you will always be so."

"Is Aunt Lara here, too?" asked Kara excitedly. "And did you bring Kal? Please tell me they came with you," she asked rapidly, barely able to contain herself. "I really would like Alex to meet them too. It's wonderful that you came; now we don't have to wait until we were coming to see you."

"Oh yes, Little Star. Your Mother and Lara are in the bedroom, probably tending to Kal's next diaper. Lara very much wants to see you, and Kal is growing like an out of control weed," replied Jor El, shaking his head fondly, watching his niece going spastic. "But first, your Father and I would like to speak with Alex a moment, if you can spare her? Or you may stay and speak with us if you wish. Neither Lara nor Kal is going anywhere anytime soon."

Kara stopped dead in her tracks, suddenly very serious and calm. Her arm went around Alex's shoulders again, and she subconsciously eased Alex to a position where she stood between her father and uncle, and Alex protectively. "What's wrong?" she asked cautiously, looking at both the men, back and forth. "Whatever it is, Alex didn't do it, I promise. Alex has been with me everywhere."

She paused a moment, glanced at Alex again, and frowned, "Or does this have something to do with Alex's lab work? She's not sick or anything is she? If she is, you can help her, right? She's going to be okay, isn't she?" The questions were coming rapid fire, and were being asked so fast, Alex barely understood two words of what she was saying.

Both men smiled lightly, and shook their heads. "She's done nothing, we know that, Kara," said Zor El gently. "And yes, it has to do with Alex's lab work. There are some very large oddities, and I've never seen anything like it. So, I called Jor to ask his opinion. He's probably the most gifted scientist on Krypton, and I figured together we could figure out what's happening."

Before Kara could start another barrage of concerned questions, Jor El took out a small tablet, and looked over the data for a moment, while Zor El gave Alex Jessica back, and thanked her again for letting him borrow her for a while. Alex was relieved, because her knowledge of Kryptonian had been heavily tested that evening.

"Zor, you are every bit as gifted as they claim I am. You were always better than me at abstract multi spatial and dimensional computations, among many other things. But I was glad to take a look with you. It was fascinating," Jor El said with a soft laugh. He motioned for the girls to sit, as he and Zor El took seats, too. Jessica was busily translating for Alex as they spoke.

Zor El glanced at his brother a moment, and then began, "I asked Jessica to provide me with your genetic profile, and other physiological information on you, so I had an idea of what sort of things to look for, or look at. She supplied those and a lot of information on the human genome in general. It all seemed pretty straightforward; it's not terribly different than Kryptonian physiology, though there are, of course, some differences, influenced by a multitude of factors. For example, our cellular structure is much denser than yours, and we make more use of our environment, and natural light to help fuel many bodily processes than your species does."

He paused, waiting to see if either of them had any questions, or anything they wanted to mention before he pressed on. Neither of them said anything, and appeared to be listening intently, so he continued, "Meanwhile, your world's yellow sun was able to more efficiently be made use of by your bodies, and your thinner atmosphere, with its different composition and ratios of gasses, allowed several forms of beneficial radiation to bathe your world, and your people, with nutrients and facilitation of many different enzymes and compounds in your bodies that we can't process."

Zor El paused again, and again there were no questions. He had been worried that he may be speaking a little over Alex's head, so wanted to be sure she understood. He by no means thought she wasn't intelligent, or capable of grasping such concepts, but he thought perhaps since their technology was centuries behind Krypton's in development, they may not be as educated on such subjects as Kryptonians were. He was rather pleased to see that she seemed to genuinely understand him so far.

"Then, I looked at your profile I had just taken," he continued. "Your personal profile was extremely different than it was before you left Earth and from your species in general. Jessica advised me that you'd been exposed to extreme doses of several different varieties of radiation on your trip. Some of it was the result of being closer than normal to your sun, and part of it was due to solar activity that had spiked, due to the massive gravity shift and other factors the loss of Earth caused. Then when you came through the wormhole, you experienced a plethora of other types of radiation, in very high, very extreme levels."

There was another pause, and this time, Jor El picked up the explanation. "It would appear that these massive doses of various radiations have fundamentally altered your entire genetic makeup, and is still doing so, even now. Your genetic structure and DNA is altering, mutating, adapting to your new conditions. We have several theories, but we have no empirical evidence at this point to support those theories. Yet, from what we're observing, it appears that your species is extremely adaptable, and given random variables such as the radiation, you're becoming even more adaptable. Adaptable to the point that Zor and I believe that these variables and changes will start actively manifesting soon, and what sort of manifestations we can only offer conjecture on."

The girls looked at each other a moment, and then Alex looked at both men intently for a moment, processing what they'd said so far. "So, if I understand you correctly, I'm adapting to be better equipped to deal with your environment and conditions here? What are your conjectures on what these manifestations might be like?" she asked, feeling suddenly nervous.

"She's not going to die, or be in terrible pain or something is she? She's not going to be unable to move or anything like that, I hope?" asked Kara, taking Alex's hand and squeezing it again. "She can't have survived everything she has, only to come here, and die because of our world, and things that happened along the way. That _cannot_ be what Rao intended when he guided her here."

"No, not at all, Little Star," replied Jor El, as he reached over and patted her hand. He glanced up at Alex once more. "Zor and Alura told me of the great difficulty you had breathing and moving when you came here. Our atmosphere is made up similarly to yours, but it's different enough that it was causing you difficulty. You don't appear to be having any significant difficulty now, do you? Of course, you would have eventually and fairly quickly adapted superficially, but it would take time for your lungs to strengthen sufficiently to truly be free of difficulty."

Alex frowned, and thought for a moment, paying particular attention to her breathing. She was shocked to discover that she wasn't wheezing and coughing, and it didn't feel like she was breathing in molasses. She was breathing almost normally, and the quality of her breathing was improving, little by little, with each breath.

"No, now that you mention it, I'm not having a lot of difficulty breathing at all now. Completely and totally different than it was even last night. It's like somewhere inside me, a switch got flipped to turn on some sort of system to make it easier," she said slowly, once more looking down at herself, and at her hands.

"I had built you a low profile exoskeleton to use until your body could adjust to the gravity, with the help of the serum I was formulating. But now, you seem to be moving almost as well as myself or Kara, or Jor. Your muscles appear to be somewhat better defined, as well," Zor El said, as he retrieved an instrument from his case. "Do you mind if I take a quick survey of your present condition?"

Alex glanced at her body again, and it was true. Her arms seemed more muscular than they had, better defined and toned. She hadn't suddenly become a Russian female body builder or anything like that, but she did look like an Olympic swimmer or something. Also, she was indeed moving much easier and much better. She hardly even noticed the gravity difference, and that was really odd. She felt good; better than she could remember ever physically feeling in her life. She had completely failed to notice the change, she had been too focused on what was going on, and talking with Kara. At Zor El's question, she shrugged lightly, "No, not at all. Please do."

Zor El took the instrument, made some adjustments, and ran the device over Alex's body slowly. The more readings he took, the deeper the crease between his eyebrows grew. He held the device near Jessica, and asked, "Jessica, can you please upload these results, and compare them to the results we were checking in the lab earlier? Summarize differences, please?"

Jessica happily(?) complied, and after a few moments, started spewing complex scientific terms in Kryptonian that were slipping right by Alex. The Kryptonians in the room seemed to understand very well what they all meant, including Kara to some degree. Her jaw was slowly sliding its way to the floor, and that worried Alex, but she wanted to know what was going on before she started freaking out.

The two men looked at each other, and nodded solemnly, then turned their gaze back on the girls. "Zor and I postulated that if these adaptations were exposed to several very strong catalysts, their effects would accelerate greatly, and it seems as if those catalysts have been intermixed with the already developing changes," Jor El said thoughtfully.

Zor El picked up there, "You've got massive amounts of adrenaline, endorphins, and several other agents in your active body systems right now, and they've provided the last changes necessary to set the adaptations fully into motion. As we speak, right now, you are becoming something that no Kryptonian has ever had the ability to be, and I doubt very much any human has ever experienced it before either. We should conduct some tests as quickly as we're able. These readings are simply incredible."


	7. Chapter 7

_**Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Earth**_

 **Chapter 7**

The next week had been eventful, to use a kind description. Zor El and his brother Jor El had put her through battery after battery of tests, observing what the differences between her physiology now and what it was before she left Earth, and how it was different from the human genome in general. Each test revealed something that led to more and more fantastic theories, which of course meant more tests. She was beginning to feel very much like a guinea pig or something in a lab, being poked and prodded to no end.

Through it all, Kara was at her side. She never left, not once, and was unfailingly there during every test. Despite Kara being about a year younger than Alex (they'd sat down and did the math together, calculating Earth's year versus Krypton's year), she was extremely protective of the human. She knew, of course, that her father and uncle wouldn't hurt Alex, but yet, that instinct still kept her right there all the time they worked with Alex. If anybody other than family were to discover that Alex was an alien, "trouble" didn't even begin to describe the resulting chaos.

The week hadn't been all bad, though. In between hours and hours of poking and prodding, Alex had gotten the chance to meet Kara's Aunt Lara, and little Kal El. Like Jor El, Alex had pretty much instantly felt at ease with Lara, and Kara's adoration for her aunt and uncle made it all that much easier to feel that way. They'd both been very kind to her, and had treated her as if she truly was family, and not some stray that Zor, Alura and Kara had found somewhere. Every day, Alex was beginning to feel a little more at home than she had the day before.

Jor El, Lara and Kal El had stayed with Kara's family during the week since they weren't going back to Kryptonopolis anytime in the immediate future, what with all the tests and such the brothers were doing with Alex. The house was more than big enough to accommodate them all easily, so there was no crowding or everybody running over everybody else during the day. So, even with the tests, things weren't that bad. She was relieved to discover that the Kryptonians had devised far easier, and less painful, ways to take blood and DNA samples, and do other examinations that the techniques on Earth seemed like stone knives and bear skins in comparison. She _much_ preferred the Kryptonian methods, unquestionably.

Zor El and Jor El were busily examining the latest findings, so Alex was free for a while. She and Kara opted to go spend time with Alura, Lara and Kal El. Kerex and several other robotic servants tended to the more menial tasks and assisted wherever possible under normal conditions, but with a baby in the house, that service was magnified. They flitted about as the girls and the women talked.

Alex was absolutely amazed at the ease with which she slipped into things. Jessica was needed less and less for translations, though she was far from unneeded in any circumstances, but Alex's Kryptonian had improved greatly the last week. While still not completely fluent, and having a somewhat limited vocabulary compared to native speakers, she was doing quite well. The human was relieved that her odd accent was becoming less and less noticeable as well.

"You seem to be acclimating pretty well," Lara said as she accepted the bottle from Kerex, who had just warmed Kal El's lunch for her. She presented it to him, and he took it without fuss, and began consuming the protein rich milk supplement he was being given. "Have you given any thought to what name you'll use? It's important that it sound as Kryptonian as possible, as you know. It can be unusual, few would question it, but if it's truly strange, there will be suspicion. The Sagitari aren't the most relaxed people, to say the least, and given the Supreme Council's xenophobia, they're even less so."

"We've talked some about that, and we want to stay as close to her actual name as possible, yet make it satisfactorily Kryptonian as well," replied Alura, giving the girls something to drink to help pass the time as they spoke. It also helped to keep the throat lubricated Alura had joked with them, which caused them all to laugh, even Kal El, who gurgled and laughed along with them. "That way, her reaction to it is instinctive, and natural. Giving her a name nothing like her own would probably take quite a bit of getting used to."

Alex took Kal El as Lara handed him to her, a privilege she'd greatly enjoyed since they came for their visit. The young child waved his hands excitedly upon seeing her face, and doubly so as he saw Kara's as well. He squirmed happily and then returned to his meal, seeming as content and content can be. "I've been thinking about it a lot, and Kara and I have talked about it quite a bit, too. Is there any chance I could keep being called Alex? I mean does it sound like a name someone would name a child?" asked Alex as she took the empty bottle from Kal El's mouth. She promptly and carefully held him on her shoulder and patted his back gently, as she'd seen mothers do on Earth.

The Kryptonians all glanced at each other, thinking about it, obviously, which kept Alex bouncing and inside she was full of nervous energy and wondering if she'd asked the wrong question or made some other mistake. She was really feeling some serious dread, but Alura spoke, "I have a great aunt named Alixa, so it isn't really a stretch to be named Alex. It'd be considered a little exotic, maybe, but nothing that would set off anyone's 'alien alarm,' I don't think."

"I didn't even think about that!" exclaimed Kara, her blue eyes lighting up like stars. "I don't think there'd be any issues with it. It's not like we have a name book somewhere and these are all the names that are possible for Kryptonian women or anything." Her smile made her face almost shine like a runaway comet, and the excitement she was feeling was an almost physical thing.

Lara took Kal El back, and laid him on the couch beside her, so he could sleep. He'd dozed off in Alex's arms. "Alex Zor El. It has a nice sound to it, I think. Welcome to the family, Niece," she said with a smile. "And Alura, the idea of saying she was Arn Zee's daughter was a good one, I believe. It's tragic that he and his family all died in senseless fighting, and I mourn your loss with you. It's for the best, though, since it'd be hard to explain a daughter you've been hiding for fourteen years. Adopting the only survivor of Arn's family would make perfect sense, and none would question it, I don't believe."

"I thought so too," Alura replied. She leaned back in her seat, and gave the girls a quick smile. "What do you think, Alex? Does all this seem like something you can work with, and that sounds plausible to you? Few in Argo knew Arn and his family, and those that did hadn't seen him since his late teens, I'm sure, so there's plenty of opportunity for him to have had a daughter your age that they'd know nothing about."

Alex glanced over at Kara, and then at the others in the room for a moment in silence. Finally, she nodded, "I don't think it'd be any problem to work with that. Like you said, it'd make perfect sense, and I doubt anyone could prove otherwise. So, that means nobody would give you any trouble or anything, right?" She didn't want to be the source of problems for them, if there was going to be any. They had all been extremely kind to her, and she didn't want to repay them with hassles, or worse.

After they answered her, confirming her hopes, Kara smiled, and hugged her tightly. "Hello, everyone, this is my big sister, Alex Zor El," she said in way of demonstration. "Who's that incredibly smart new girl? That's Alex Zor El. Do you think Alex Zor El is single? People say I'm in a good circle; I'm good friends with Alex Zor El. I want to be in the Guild that Alex Zor El is in; it'll be a wonderful experience. Of course it'll be wonderful. Alex Zor El is wonderful."

She carried on for a few moments, and then looked at Alex with an apologetic smile. "I'm not teasing you or making fun of you, I promise," she swore, as she gave Alex's hand a gentle squeeze. "I'm just trying to let you hear your name roll off tongues in different conversations and circumstances, so you can get used to it. Once they know you, it'll be just Alex, of course, but you've learned by now how associations affect how one is addressed or referred to."

Alex was quiet, but she wasn't angry or upset, it didn't seem like. Kara thought it seemed more like she was sad than anything else, though there was some happiness in there as well. "Oh, it's okay, Kara, I get it. I understand. I know I don't look like it, or sound like it, but I'm really happy. Thank you, all of you, very much," she said with a light smile.

She was trying to move on with her life as her parents had wanted her to, but it wasn't that easy just yet. It seemed as if her new family understood that, because like before, they weren't pushing her. Alex had just hit the tip of the iceberg with her grief, and her expression and acceptance of it. She wasn't sure if, or when, she'd have another episode like she had at the fortress, but she was sure Kara would be there for her if and when she did.

X

A few hours later, Alex and Kara returned to the lab where Zor El and Jor El were working, and examining the results of the tests that were done so far. Ever since the first burst of flashing lights as she passed close to the sun, Alex had felt off, like something was different, she was just unsure of what. It had gotten even more apparent when she slipped through the wormhole, and landed on Krypton. Now, she'd somewhat gotten used to it, but she was very intent on finding out just exactly what was going on, and why.

It had gotten much easier for her to move around, and she no longer felt like she weighed a ton. Her breathing was much closer to normal and regular, and she wasn't feeling the compulsion to cough and wheeze harshly. She thought she must be adapting pretty well to the environment of her new home, since she wasn't experiencing those things anymore. That was good news, at least.

The two brothers glanced at each other, and finally Zor El waved the girls to sit down. "This is all extraordinary," he started, giving each girl a meaningful gaze for a moment. "We've never seen anything like it, and we're not even sure of how far the potential goes, but we can tell you some things for definite sure now, if you'd like."

"Yes, please," answered Alex. She gripped Kara's hand, and squeezed it. The human wasn't sure of how good or bad the news was, but she was sure she'd need Kara's support. The slightly younger girl had been a lifeline and a rock since Alex had arrived. "Just how different have I become?"

There was a pause, and with a pad in hand, Zor El glanced over some notes or something similar, and then replied, "It seems that the radiation you were exposed to, and your natural habitat on your home world have had some startling results since you arrived here. Your molecular structure is not nearly as dense as ours, as you know, however, the way your cells build up and store energy is much different than ours." He indicated himself, Jor El and Kara before he went on.

"It seems your cells have become able to absorb and contain energy, to be directed and used later in several functions. It's not just the solar energy, either. We bathed your cells in several different types of energy, such as an omegahedron set to discharge power, and even plain, simple fire," he said, with an expression that suggested he was barely able to believe it himself. "They absorbed, and contained, all of that energy, and were capable of storing more still. They also show signs of being able to release that energy in controlled and regulated ways."

Kara's brows shot upwards, and she quickly turned towards Alex. "One single omegahedron powers _all_ of Argo City, and could power half again that much, easily," she explained. "Father is saying your cells are capable of storing all that energy, and more. That's an _enormous_ amount of energy. The things that would probably make you able to do…they'd be unbelievably amazing."

The brothers confirmed Kara's statement, and Jor El picked up, "In addition, a combination of released energy and the structure of your molecular makeup show an amazing potential for almost instantaneous healing, and total regeneration. For example, we could run over you full speed with a skimmer, and before you could get up off the ground, your body would already be healed as if nothing happened. The pain would probably be extremely brief, if your brain could even register the sensation at all before it was repaired."

Alex felt like everything was in extremely slow motion, and her jaw felt like it was melting more than it was dropping. A confused expression morphed into an incredulous expression, then kept progressing through several different states, as she was momentarily dumbfounded, unable to speak for a few moments.

"Think of your cells as being infinite energy storage," continued Zor El as his brother finished his statement. "We all constantly absorb normal energy, like ultraviolet rays, solar light, mild electrical impulses that move along our nerves to send signals to our brains, and such things as that. Our bodies store that energy to give us fuel to do the things we do. Food and water provide some of that energy, and when we expend that energy, our cells need to recharge. This is why you eat multiple meals, and other means of letting your body re-energize itself."

He paused to make sure the girls were taking all this in, and understanding before he continued, "Your cells, however, are like super capacitors. The amount of energy your cells can store and use is incalculable. You'll still need to eat and sleep, of course, but you can go for much longer periods without it being absolutely necessary. And it's our belief that your cells can discharge energy in other ways than simply being used to execute normal, everyday tasks. We believe you could discharge that energy beyond your body, like the beam of an energy weapon, or a tool, for example. You could cut through a metal door as if you had a laser cutter simply by expelling that energy in a controlled, focused manner."

"There is a point where your energy use would eventually come to the point where you were using more energy faster than you could store it," interjected Jor El thoughtfully. "This is where sleep, food and such things would become necessary for you. You'll still be able to get tired, and such like you've always done. Even so, your cells will rapidly recharge and store energy…well, rapidly compared to a normal person, such as Kara, Zor El or myself. The actual applications and limits of your manipulation of that energy will have to be measured through testing."

Alex frowned, and looked up at her adoptive father and uncle. "Wait a minute," she said, holding up a hand. "You're telling me I can heal faster than I can feel most pains, or still ridiculously fast compared to how something would normally heal, and that I can shoot lasers out of my eyes or hands or something like that? And of course, if something hits me or whatever hard enough, it can stun or hurt me, but that'd take a _massive_ amount of damage? Do I understand correctly?"

"Presumably, you could expel that energy in any manner you choose," said Zor El, as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "From your hands, your eyes, your feet, or anywhere you chose, as near as we can determine. However, it'd probably be easiest and most easily controlled to do so from your eyes or hands, because of the nature of precise control over the movement, pressure and precision that they each require. From the results, it would appear that the energy you expelled like that would be more or less like concentrated star light and radiation, a 'star bolt' if you will."

"Ouch!" exclaimed Kara suddenly, as she pulled her hand free of Alex's and shook it rapidly. "You've got a really tight grip. I know you didn't mean to hurt me or anything, you've just never gripped my hand _that_ tightly before."

"Damn, I'm sorry, Kara," apologized Alex, even though Kara told her that she knew that it wasn't intentional. She took Kara's hand again as she slid it back into hers, and looked back at the scientists again. "Okay, that sounds pretty awesome, actually. I just have to be really careful and control it, it sounds like."

Zor El chuckled softly, and nodded towards the girls' joined hands. "It has energized your cells enough that it makes you incredibly strong, as well. With practice, you can learn to control it to where you can function as you always have until now; you just have to be conscious of it. Between your strength and healing ability, we're sure you've got the endurance to go along with it," he said, as he leaned back in his seat once more. He was obviously amazed at what he was seeing in the test results.

"Why haven't I been able to do all this before today?" she asked, being extremely careful while holding her sister's hand. "I haven't noticed anything like this before now. Is this some sort of psychosomatic response?" She felt like that was a fair, and good, question. It struck her as odd that she'd be told she could do these things, and suddenly she notices herself doing them.

"You haven't so far," answered Jor El, his pad also in hand. "It takes some time for the energy to build up in your cells. It's been doing so ever since you were first exposed to the radiation, and it accelerated in this environment. What you're feeling and doing right now is only the extreme beginning of what's to come and what you'll possess. In a way, your body is just now developing the abilities we've conjectured so far."

"Wow…" Alex breathed out softly. She wasn't sure she wasn't dreaming at this point, that she wasn't having some sort of really wild dream, and would wake up in her own bed back home. After a moment or two, though, the realization that it was all real would come back to her. "Is there anything else that the tests you've done on my tissue samples have suggested?"

Zor El glanced at Jor El, and then back at his pad before he answered, "The brain scan we took shows an astounding acceleration of the synaptic activity and speed between nerves and brain, and even in the synapse firing of your brain while it's thinking, or otherwise in use. It's so fast we can't even begin to accurately measure it. With that, we're sure that you're probably thinking nearly as fast as Jessica can, if not faster."

"That suggests a very strong possibility that all of you will be able to travel equally as fast, especially with your cellular structure enhancing your strength and endurance as it is," added Jor El, as he watched her reactions with interest. In his opinion, she had taken the news fairly well, all considered. It did make her ability to conceal her identity as an alien a lot more difficult, should she ever be observed doing any of these amazing things she could do.

"That's a lot of…wow…you think I'll be able to do all of that?" Alex asked quietly, as she looked at her hands again. Her eyes lifted to watch Kara's face, praying she didn't see fear or anything like that in her eyes.

"Honestly, you may be capable of much, much more than what we're cautiously hypothesizing," answered Zor El. He paused, almost dramatically, and smiled gently. "From what we've empirically observed, we both are firm in the belief that if you apply your energy usage properly, you may even be capable of independent true flight. You may very well be able to soar through the skies at will, without any vehicle, or any other form of assistance."

"You think I can fly?" Alex asked in a quiet, awed voice. She had always loved dreams where she could fly, and in the sci fi movies she'd watch, she particularly enjoyed ones where people could fly. It seemed like it'd be so cool and exhilarating, she couldn't believe her ears to hear someone saying she may actually be truly capable of such a thing.

"We wouldn't be surprised in the slightest," responded Jor El, as he set his pad down on the table they sat near. "We are probably only scratching the surface of what capabilities you may actually develop. You could conceivably be capable of much, much more."

Kara quickly turned towards Alex, and the smile she wore was so wide, Alex thought for a moment her face might split in two. "This is all so amazing. _You_ are so amazing, Alex. Think of all the things you could do with these sorts of abilities. You could do great things to help people, or anything else you chose to do." She grew quiet a moment and then continued softly, "I'm so much in awe of you, even more than I have been even before now. I know they don't make up for what you've lost, but Rao blessed you with coming here, and gaining these abilities for some purpose. Whatever it is, I know it'll be great, as great as you, Alex."

Alex carefully embraced Kara when the younger girl wrapped her arms around her new sister, and laid her chin on Kara's shoulder. _Just when I was starting to feel something close to normal, to okay and being able to adjust to things, something comes along and throws a monkey wrench in all my shit,_ she thought with an excitement, but also a disappointment. _This will make trying to work through losing everything and everyone more interesting, that's for sure. I just have to be careful and not punch a hole through the planet or whatever, if I'm even capable of that sort of thing._


	8. Chapter 8

_**Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Earth**_

 **Chapter 8**

The days felt like they were flying by to Alex. Another week had passed, and she'd been participating in the tests that Zor El and Jor El had devised for her. Alura, Lara, and Kal El were present for some of them, but Kara was _always_ there. In some ways, exploring the capabilities she had, the powers she possessed, was fun. She was indeed capable of some amazing things, everything that the brothers had conjectured that was possible based on the limited data they had at the time. They were now more than convinced that those were just the beginnings, the "stepping stones" Alex called them, to learning to use the abilities she knew she had to explore other uses and other possibilities for them. She felt that she'd most likely discover things none of them had guessed she possessed at some point. Zor and Jor both wholeheartedly agreed with her thinking.

In addition to all the testing, she had been playing catch up as far as her education, and knowledge about her new home, went. Endless hours, it felt like, of studying and cramming information as quickly into her head as possible made her feel as if her brain was boiling in its own fluid. She and Kara lay on the soft floor covering (no matter what the Kryptonians called it, it would always be carpet to her way of thinking) in the gathering room, studying. Kara was, of course, tutoring her, trying very hard to make sure she knew the things she was expected to know when school picked back up in a month's time. _You might as well try to shoot an elephant out of a handgun through a keyhole, for all the good it feels like I'm doing right now,_ she thought as it felt like she was going to explode.

After several minutes of trying to solve the "simple" equation Kara had put together for her, she released an exasperated breath, and dropped the computer pad to the carpet between them. "Okay, that's it, that's enough, I need a break. I can't keep doing this right now," she said in a tired and agitated sounding voice. Her breathing had quickened, and Jessica, who had been at her side by her elbow, lit up and started swirling colors, yet she remained silent for the moment.

Kara frowned in confusion, and looked up at her as Alex sat up and crossed her legs. "What's wrong, Alex? Are you okay? I didn't say or do something irritating without realizing I did, did I?" she asked, genuinely concerned. She knew Alex could be a little moody from time to time, considering everything she'd experienced, but she was still afraid she'd say something that would come across as offensive, even though she'd never say anything like that to her.

"What?" asked Alex, seemingly in some sort of mental fog at the moment. Her face softened, and she patted Kara's shoulder gently. "No, no, no, you didn't say or do anything. It's just that I was barely keeping my head above water in trigonometry back on Earth, and I'm trying to do advanced fifth dimensional quantum calculus right now. That's _so_ not skipping a couple of chapters and working ahead," she grumbled quietly.

Kara blinked in obvious confusion as she sat up as well, setting her pad aside. Her head tilted, and she furrowed her brow, causing the cute little crease to form between her eyebrows, and asked, "Why were you swimming while in elementary trigonometry class? Is that normal? Or do you mean they submerged you in water to help you learn better? Did it work? Cognitive hydro therapy sounds really interesting. A little bizarre, but interesting."

The human stared at the Kryptonian girl for a moment, wondering if she was joking or not, but quickly realized what was going on. Alex started laughing, which evolved into a rapid giggle, and she fell over, turning onto her side, and shook her head. "Oh, God, no, Kara. It's an expression, an idiom. It means that I was just barely keeping a passing grade in the class. Sometimes, you can be such a dork! A sweet and cute dork, but a dork!"

"'Dork?' What's a 'dork?' What makes me one, whatever it is?" asked Kara, once more confused by the strange words Alex occasionally interspersed in her vastly improved Kryptonian. She did smile, however, and add, "Ah, the struggle to keep a good grade, I understand. Your language is so…creative, and expressive. I like it. It sounds fun to speak."

"Oh, my God, you've got to be kidding," breathed Alex in English as she sat up, frowning a little herself. She'd never been asked to actually define what a dork was. It was one of those things that was self evident and self defining. _Everybody_ knew what a dork was. _Everybody except Kryptonians, it seems._

Kara kept her bemused, but confused, expression, especially after Alex spoke in English for a moment, and Alex struggled to figure out a way to actually define dork for her. After a moment of thought, she leaned in a little, and smiled lightly, "A dork is a smart person who is a little out of their element in a casual social gathering. Sort of a socially awkward person who's mind is usually on something far removed from what's being talked about. It used to be an insult, a long time ago, but over time, it evolved into being simply funny, and even a compliment."

Kara's brow furrowed again as she considered all this, and then she smiled broadly. "Oh, okay. So it's cold to be called a dork, then?" She'd been trying to remember all the odd turns of speech that Alex used, so she could use them too, and maybe it might make Alex feel more at home, but it was clear that she still had a lot to learn about human idioms.

Alex smacked her hand to her forehead playfully, and hung her head a moment, as she felt the laugh rising again. She was trying very hard not to giggle as she looked up at Kara again, and replied, "You're close, but not quite there. The expression is ' _cool,_ ' not cold. I know, I know, cool means something that's somewhat cold to the touch, but when you use it this way, it means something is good, okay, or interesting."

The two girls laughed a moment, just enjoying the moment of silly conversation. Alex glanced up towards the windows, and noticed that it had gotten completely dark. They'd had dinner earlier, which was usually as the sun was getting close to going down, but she hadn't realized that the full weight of night had fallen already. A thought occurred to her, and she turned back to Kara. "How often, and how thorough, are the Sagitari patrols this time of night?" she asked in a decidedly quieter voice.

The sudden turn of the conversation confused Kara a moment, which once again had that little crease between her brows as she answered, "Unless there's an alert, or some sort of emergency or serious reason to specifically act in some way, it's usually more or less cursory, normally about every hour or so. It usually remains relaxed, unless something catches their attention, or something is called in." The crease deepened after a moment, and the Kryptonian tilted her head, following up with, "Why do you ask?"

The human looked back over her shoulder out the window a moment, and then back to Kara, and smiled conspiratorially, whispering, "I don't know. I was wondering if maybe you'd like to see something…' _cold._ '" The last word was emphasized with a wink and a wide grin, to let Kara know she was ribbing her a little, but in a good natured way.

Kara also glanced over her shoulder towards the night outside the windows, and then at the door leading to the room where her parents, and her aunt and uncle were. She matched Alex's grin, and whispered back, "I'd love to see something _cool._ "

Alex had a twinkle in her eye as she suddenly grabbed Kara's hand, _carefully_ grabbed Kara's hand, and got up, and tugged her along. "Great. Come on. They won't even know we're gone. We'll be back in a few minutes," she assured Kara.

In seconds, they were out the door and on their way to the ground, and as Alex said, so far, no one had noticed. It did leave Kara wondering what it was that Alex wanted to show her, though.

X

The wind rushed through the girls' hair as they sped along through the sky, moving at incredible speed. They were both laughing, and staying low enough that they should be outside the Sagitari's sphere of attention. Beneath them, the craggy, blasted land looked like a sheet of pastel colors, changing random shapes. Kara tightened her grip a little on Alex's shoulders, and she'd followed the older girl's advice of keeping her face behind Alex's head, which would act as a shield so the wind wouldn't damage her eyes.

"You were right, this is really cool!" shouted Kara over the wind. She couldn't believe how fast they were going, and even though she had no idea where they were at the moment, until Alex slowed down anyway, she was really enjoying the flight.

She'd secretly wondered what it'd be like, when they discovered that Alex could indeed fly. It had been something she'd always dreamed about doing herself, though she knew it would never happen, outside of a vehicle, but here she was, clinging to Alex's back, and rushing over the landscape. The experience was unlike anything she'd ever had before, and she could tell it would become addictive. She hoped Alex wouldn't mind taking her flying now and then.

"Yeah, it is!" called Alex back to her. The land became more distinct, and developed physical features instead of blurs of color as Alex slowed down. It was like hovering in a skimmer, sort of, or leisurely moving through the city, only infinitely better. What both girls were feeling at that moment was an intense and well defined sense of freedom.

In the pale moonlight cast by the one surviving moon, and the refractive light coming from the fragments of the moon that had been destroyed years ago, Alex could see an enormous blackened "hole" in the landscape, where it looked like some astronomically large creature had taken a bite out of the planet as if it were a piece of fruit. "What's that?" she asked, pointing towards the black blemish on the grayish brown landscape.

Kara gasped, and looked behind them, then back to what Alex was pointing at. "That…that's where Kandor, our former capital city, once was. It was stolen by an alien called Brainiac a couple of centuries ago, when my great grandfather lived," she replied, obviously in awe. "How…? The site of Kandor is at least four hours' travel from Argo, and that's traveling in excess of the speed limit. We've only been flying for about ten minutes."

Alex sobered at the mention of an abducted city, crazy aliens that abducted cities to begin with, and what must have been massive casualties and losses, not to mention what it did to the planet itself. "I just flew. I could have gone faster, I think, at least it felt like I could. I didn't want to lose you or hurt you though, so I took it easy," Alex answered thoughtfully. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to put a damper on our fun. Even with it being an historical event, there's still got to be that sense of loss for you and everyone else."

"No, it's okay," said Kara softly as she squeezed Alex a little tighter for a few seconds. "You didn't know, and you had no way of knowing. It hasn't been in any of the stuff you've been studying, and nobody's mentioned it. I was just sort of shocked to see it this close, and the fact I didn't think we'd be anywhere even remotely near here when we slowed down."

Alex was relieved, at least a little. Kara was right, she didn't know, and Kara wasn't expecting them to go that far that fast, so she didn't warn her about it. Still, just looking at the black scar on the world reminded her of Earth, though it wasn't nearly the same thing. She could feel the emotions swirling and crashing against one another inside her, and that darkness, despair and helpless rage was threatening to come spilling out at any moment, like it had before in the fortress, suddenly and powerfully. She needed to get away from this place, fast, before it went beyond her ability to hold back, that she knew.

The faces of her family, of her friends Vicki, Josie, and Lauren, Kenny, and others she knew; the guy that watered his lawn four times a week at precisely the same time each day; so many people flashed through her mind. The sense of loss was terrible, and she felt pangs of pain and regret, because she hadn't gotten the chance to at least say good bye. That only compounded the dark soul consuming emotions she felt rising up.

Vicki in particular, aside from her family, was prominent in her mind. They were best friends, and had been for ages. Alex spent a lot of time spending the night with her, where they talked and gossiped, and compared boys, and practically everything else. When they finally went to sleep, they would both sleep in Vicki's bed, each snuggling against their best friend. Alex felt another sadness and rage, a different variety of mourning, rising in her. She wasn't sure herself, but she never got the chance to try to get up the courage to talk to Vicki about things she thought about, feelings that she'd been feeling towards her. Alex herself didn't understand them, not truly, but she knew that it would probably freak everyone out if they knew. So, she'd buried it deep inside, hid it away from the light, and fought so hard to keep it down, it eventually gained the status of "it didn't happen" in her memory.

Now, she was remembering that time, those feelings, and on top of the grief she felt for her world, for everyone she knew and loved, there was that regret at not ever having attempted to talk with Vicki about it. The last conversation they'd had was a heated argument, and it was over something utterly ridiculous and stupid, so ridiculous and stupid Alex couldn't even remember what it was. She could remember, however, that it was because of fear she felt, having realized the feelings she was having were actually there, and not knowing what to do with them or do about them. Alex didn't know if it was some odd fluke or a phase or if the feelings actually and truly were serious and meant something. It's not like she'd find out for sure now. It's not like it would even matter any longer. Vicki, everyone else, the world itself, they were all gone, and weren't coming back.

Apparently, Kara felt something in Alex's mood change, because she gave her an extra squeeze, and said softly, "We'd probably better be getting back before they finally miss us and realize we're gone. They would probably be scared something had happened, or that something was going to happen, something terrible." She could feel something happening to Alex on the inside, something that felt a lot like her brief moment of release of her grief in the fortress some time ago, and she wanted so badly to protect Alex from that, and to help her release it slowly, in a healthy way.

Alex shook away as many of the cobwebs in her mind as she could and nodded, "Yeah, we probably should. Here, let me land and we can change positions a bit. We're going to be moving _fast._ So, make sure you cover your face and keep your eyes shielded, okay?" It was time to figure out if she could actually go faster, like she'd felt she could. It only took the two of them ten minutes to get out there, but they were going to need to get back a lot faster than that.

Kara nodded, so Alex carefully moved towards the ground, and landed gently on her feet. Kara released her shoulders, and come out from behind her. Alex looked at her a minute, and then up in the sky. There were no patrol vehicles in sight, which was a good thing. Finally, she moved closer and wrapped her arm around Kara's waist. "Hold onto me the same way, okay?" she asked.

Her grip on Kara was tight, but not painfully so. She wasn't about to let go of her. Since she'd arrived, Kara and her family had been the truest constant she'd had. Kara in particular had been her biggest support, the friendly ear and shoulder, the rock that she clung to when everything else seemed to be crumbling. _Thank God, Rao, Zeus, whoever is pulling the strings for Kara. I'd be so much more lost and fucked up if it weren't for her. I owe her family a lot, but I owe her everything, it feels like to me, anyway._

Once Kara had a hold of her as Alex instructed, she shot into the sky, and like a shooting star, blasted through the sky, creating several sonic booms along the way. She hoped they wouldn't catch the attention of the Sagitari, because the last thing she needed was for her new family to get into trouble because of her.

X

"Where are they? Where could they have gone?" Alura was asking aloud, though she was mostly talking to herself, as she searched through the house. Lara, Jor El and Zor El were all helping her, and they were each feeling the impending dread that they'd done something dangerous, something that would reveal Alex to the city, and ultimately to the Supreme Council. That would be the last thing they needed.

Lara came back into the gathering room, holding Kal El in her arms. "They're not in their room," she said, settling Kal El on her hip more securely. "It's completely undisturbed, like they haven't been in there all day." She knew from the time she and her husband had been visiting during this extraordinary trip that they would often disappear into their room whenever they had a few spare moments.

"The lab is clear as well. Everything is exactly as we left it this afternoon," Jor El reported, also entering the room once more, just moments after Lara had made her entrance. "Wherever they are, it's clear they're not in the house, I would guess. We would have heard or seen them by now, I'd imagine."

Zor El came into the room a few moments after, and paced a few steps. It was something he did when he was agitated, keyed up from things going on and he couldn't stand still. Like the rest, he was afraid for the girls, afraid of what could be going on, of what might have happened. "They're not on the roof, either. I know they like to go up there, and look out over the city and talk, but it doesn't look like they've been up there all night," he said, as he resumed his pacing once more.

"Did anyone check the room that Alex was originally going to use until Kara suggested she might be more comfortable near one of us, in case she had nightmares or something?" asked Alura. She was quickly sliding towards afraid, as Zor El was, and it seemed as if Jor El and Lara were as well. "I would have thought they'd have said something if they wanted to go out, whether it was to a store, or to visit one of Kara's friends, especially at this hour."

"I'm sorry, Alura. It was my fault," said a voice from across the room, behind Alura. Alex and Kara entered the room from the direction of the front exit to the house. "I was getting a headache from the studying, and needed a break. I wanted to go outside for a bit, and asked Kara if she wanted to see something I thought she'd like, and she went with me. Please don't be upset with her. It was all me."

Alex took Jessica out of the bag she often carried important things in when she would move around, or the rare occasion they'd gone out since her arrival and set her down on the low table. The computer swirled colors for a moment, then spoke, "Oh, here we are. I'd gone into standby mode, since I wasn't needed at the moment, and when I came to awareness again, I saw darkness, and assumed that Alex had taken me somewhere. There we are, that's better." The globe swirled colors, obviously adjusting its optic sensors, wherever they may have been in that form, to the drastic change in lighting.

Zor El came over to the two teenagers, and laid a hand on one of each girl's shoulders. "Where did you go? It's not a good idea to be out too much, especially at night. It's not good especially with you still learning things everyone will automatically assume you know, Alex," he said in a concerned tone. He didn't seem angry; he seemed more worried and now relieved than anything, as did everyone else.

"We went flying!" blurted Kara out before Alex could answer. "Alex took me for a flight to show me how amazing it feels to move through the air like that, completely and totally free. It is amazing, so very amazing," she finished, standing close to Alex, and even subtly between her and the adults in the room, in a protective manner.

Shocked, Alura came over as well, and touched each girl's cheek, as she said, "Someone could have seen you; the Sagitari could have detected and tracked you, or worse. You have to be _careful_ girls. There's far, far too much at stake here." When Zor El took his hands away, she hugged each girl tightly. "We could go to prison, possibly even be executed; Alex could be killed or forced off world. Worse, she could be taken and experimented on, and have horrible things happen to her. It's for everyone's protection that we caution you, especially your own, girls."

"For the record, none of us is upset, girls," said Lara, bouncing Kal El gently, since he was stirring and a bit fussy, it seemed like. "We're just concerned. It was a big risk, going out and doing that. There are too many bad things that could have resulted from it."

Zor El gave each girl a light squeeze, and let the corner of his lips rise slightly. "We're all just relieved and glad that you're both all right. I didn't see any sort of increase in Sagitari activity while I was out looking for you on the roof, so it's possible we had luck on our side, _this_ time," he said, moving with everyone else towards the couches, and he urged the girls along as well. "We may not have Rao's fortune next time, so please remember that."

Alex and Kara moved to sit down, and it was clear they weren't going to be separated this evening, because they seemed determined to stay side by side. "We will," answered Alex with a soft, somewhat defeated tone, though it had nothing to do with any of them. _"I_ will. I wouldn't do anything to get any of you in trouble, not purposefully anyway."

Alura reached up and stroked her fingers through Alex's hair affectionately for a moment, and nodded. "We know you wouldn't, Alex," she said quietly. "Just please, the next time you both decide to take off like that, because you need a break or something, tell us before you go? We all love both of you very much, and we want to protect you as much as you both want to protect us and each other."


	9. Chapter 9

_**Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Earth**_

 **Chapter 9**

Alex sat alone in the open garden of the school campus, staring up at the sky. The red shade to the sky was still disconcerting to her, even after having been on Krypton for two years, living as a Kryptonian orphan, adopted by her father's cousin and her husband, according to the story everyone knew.

Alex Zor El had been Alex Arn Zee, of Xan City, as far as anyone knew. No one questioned the story, since Xan City and it's neighbor, the city of Erkol, had been embroiled in a constant conflict for more years than anyone wished to count. The conflict might as well have been called an isolated civil war, and there had been heavy casualties on both sides as long as the bitter feud had been going on. As a result, the people of other city states generally avoided both the two cities, and their citizens, as much as was possible.

According to the story, Alex's family had been among the latest casualties of that conflict, leaving her the sole survivor of her family, so her father's cousin, Alura Zor El, and her husband Zor El, had adopted the then fourteen year old girl, and she'd been living with them in Argo City for the past two years.

It was a foregone conclusion that the conflict, and the trauma of losing her family, was largely responsible for Alex's odd behavior, moodiness, and generally strange disposition that manifested itself from time to time. The teachers of the school she and Kara attended generally liked and empathized with the young girl, and the majority of teenagers, her "peers," generally made fun of her, picked on her, and derided her at pretty much every opportunity. Insults, mean pranks, blatant scorn and typical teenage cruelness were the order of the day, most days.

 _Gee, imagine that. A planet where teenagers are the living, breathing definition of asshole,_ thought Alex bitterly and sarcastically as she continued to look up into the sky. _That's just so weird. Teenagers aren't like that anywhere else in the known universe, no siree Bob. Those crazy kids on Krypton are truly odd ducks. Yeah, right. You'd think that would be one difference light years from Earth, but no, it seems to be a universal constant. Yay me._

It was so strange, not seeing birds; at least not birds like there were on Earth, moving through the sky even occasionally. There was a creature called a flamebird, but it was a bird only by the loosest definition, and it only made its presence known at certain times. Alex thought it was weird how the oddest little things brought back such powerful memories of her home. Yet, it seemed as if the planet conspired to drive her mad with so many triggers for memories, and thus the usually suppressed feelings they evoked. It was like the planet itself hated her as much as the kids did.

It was during a free period, so Alex liked to come out to the garden to think, and just to be alone. Unfortunately, a very well travelled pathway between different buildings ran right beside the garden, so there were often disdainful and crude dipshits passing by, usually making some venomous and hateful comment or something. That was one of the few things that was like home. She, herself, was rarely the target of such things on Earth, but she'd seen many, many kids who had to suffer through it, like Kenny Li. He was such a sweet guy, as well as a good friend, and he helped her pass more than one class by tutoring her, yet their peers tortured him relentlessly for being a geek, or nerd, or even just "not cool," as if they were the coolest bunch of pricks in the universe.

Kara, on the other hand, was fairly popular in school. Oh, there were some that didn't like her, and made rude comments now and then, but they were few and far in between, unlike the experience Alex had every day. For that, Alex envied her little sister. Not in a mean or malicious way, she just wished she didn't stick out like a sore thumb, comparatively speaking.

Of course, not _every_ kid in school hated her, or berated her, but there were times when it sure as hell felt like it. Generally speaking, it was the crowd that would consider themselves "cool," even though they didn't know what the slang term meant. The popular kids were generally the self absorbed, spoiled little shits that thought they were Rao's gift to the world, but thankfully not all of them. A fair number of them were actually decent, even kind, to her, it was just that the bad seemed to far outweigh the ones that didn't most of the time.

As Alex sat thinking, Kara, and her best friend, Thara Ak Var, came out, and after a moment, saw her. Kara knew that Alex often came to the garden, especially on rough days. They didn't have every class together, so when they were in separate classes, they'd generally meet in the garden before the following class. On particularly rough days, Alex would spend as much time as possible in the gardens, staying to herself.

Thara, being Kara's best friend, was actually one of the teens that didn't torment Alex. She was actually quite fond of her, and dismissed her occasional quirks as being the result of having such a hard life until that point. The three girls would often talk and hang out after school, or during breaks, and their friendship was strong, stronger than any relationship Alex had beyond Kara and her family. Thara often joined Kara in staving off those that would say mean things about Alex, much to Alex's chagrin. She hated seeming as if she needed to be protected, with powers or not.

After they'd discovered that Alex had developed powers, she and her family agreed that she would conceal them, and not use them where they would be obvious. It was for Alex's own protection, she knew, but she felt as if she were cutting part of herself off from existing. She knew that they weren't trying to keep her from being herself, or to be a hindrance in her adjusting to Krypton, but it still hurt her deep inside to feel like she had to ostracize herself even more, though she never said anything about that to her new family. She knew that they were right, and it was for the best, especially if she should get especially emotional about the thoughts, feelings, and even dreams she'd have about Earth now and then. Alex didn't want them to feel guilty, and hurt their feelings, because they were trying to help her and do what was best for her.

She was shaken from her thoughts when the two girls approached her, and Thara said, "Hello, Alex. How are you doing today? Things have seemed pretty quiet lately." She wore a smile, and her attitude was upbeat and friendly, as usual. Despite the fact that she smiled a lot, Alex never once felt she was putting it on, or a fake. She knew and believed that Thara was simply a relatively normal, happy, and friendly person, and that she actually considered Alex a friend, and wasn't just being nice for her friendship with Kara's sake.

Kara greeted her sister with a hug, and sat down close to her on the bench she'd been sitting on, as Thara also sat down. Alex had made peace with the fact that Kara was a huge hugger a long time ago. Alex had never really been much of a touch person until she came to Krypton, preferring to only make prolonged or frequent physical contact with her family, and even then, that was only sporadically.

Kara, however, was extremely tactile oriented, and would hold her hand, hug her, or just be near her many, many times during the course of a typical day. It seemed to be her subconscious way of showing Alex she was unconditionally accepted, and loved, by at least one person, and it was an expression of the amazing empathy the girl had. Even when they'd disagreed on something, Kara had always treated her kindly, with compassion, and unwavering sisterly love, regardless of what was happening. Until she'd met Kara, she honestly had never thought there was any such person that was so accepting and selfless in the entire universe, that such a thing was as mythical a creature as a unicorn. Kara proved her wrong every day, and Alex was quietly grateful for that.

She mustered a smile and hugged Kara back while replying, "I'm okay, I guess, Thara. I'm just taking some quiet time. Is everything going well for you today?" Her Kryptonian had vastly improved in the past two years, and she spoke fluently enough, and with so little accent, that no one seemed to suspect she hadn't been speaking Kryptonian her whole life. She had studied the language and culture exhaustively, determined to make sure no one ever suspected any different, and thereby keeping her family safe. She had been dead set on making herself as Kryptonian as possible, to be above reproach.

"Oh, yes," answered Thara jovially, the very picture of teenage contentment, with little to no troubles clouding her thoughts at all. "I passed my history exam with absolutely no trouble, and even impressed the speaker on criminal and civil law later. He said I should become a peace keeper." She seemed proud of herself, but not in a smug or arrogant way. She simply took modest pride and pleasure in achieving something she felt was momentous.

A peace keeper, or peace officer, was the Kryptonian equivalent of a policeman, or other law enforcement organization. Alex smiled and nodded, silently agreeing with her and giving her both acknowledgement and congratulations on her good fortune so far that day. _I don't know if she'd be tough enough to be a peace keeper or Sagitari, she's so nice and friendly. But there's no doubt in my mind that she'd be fair, and would investigate everything with an obsessive thoroughness,_ Alex thought. _Though, to be fair, I know there's a lot more strength behind that friendly, almost bubbly exterior she shows. She's tougher than she looks._

Kara smiled brightly, and patted Thara on the back supportively, and responded, "That's amazing, Thara! I think he's right, I think you'd make a wonderful peace keeper." Kara knew Thara much better than she did, so apparently, she had similar thoughts to what Alex was thinking at that very moment.

She turned to Alex, and grabbed her hands up in her own, giving them a squeeze. Her eyes shone bright, and she seemed excited. "Ner An asked me out on a date for this weekend!" she bubbled. Ner An was a boy that she had had a crush on since she was ten, and was often a topic of discussion between the two girls. He was one of several, but he was one that Kara favored more than most of the others.

Still bouncing, she continued, "And it seems that his brother Den has wanted to ask you out since last year, so be expecting him to try to talk to you during…" Kara trailed off as Thara cleared her throat, and nodded towards the door leading into the building, and as the shuffle of several students walking out became audible. The group was part of the self important crowd that thought themselves so much above Alex. Kara's expression immediately morphed into something less pleasant.

The passing students slowed as they saw Alex, Kara and Thara sitting together, and two of the girls, the sisters Tora and Mina Kor Vex, as well as a boy named Gan Ur, paused. The Kor Vex girls were both wealthy, and their father was a member of the Lawmaker's Council, and so they had been raised in an arrogant, conniving environment, where contempt and backstabbing were practically an art form. Gan Ur was a cruel, wicked young man, whose parents both were high ranking members of the Military Guild, and truly believed there were few people that were worthy to even speak his name and seemed to think that everyone lived to service his every wish and whim, a truly arrogant and nihilistic creature.

The two sisters were tall, thin, and athletically built, with wiry, strong muscles, and fluidness about their movement taken from years of dance and similar past times. Mina wore her nearly white blonde hair just above the collar and slicked back into a well kept coif, while Tora wore her similarly colored hair to her shoulders, pushed back and styled, and each had piercing green eyes. Their skin was milky white, and porcelain like, with nary a blemish in sight, which they either never engaged in enough physical activity to gain any, or were obsessive about hiding them with clothing and cosmetics. In either event, both girls were pretty, but their cruelty and disdain for everyone not in their circle made them ugly.

Gan Ur was built like a well oiled machine. He was tall, large enough to be imposing, but slender enough to suggest the capability for very quick and precise movements. His muscles were solid, and extended, exhibiting both strength and flexibility. He was considered the best athlete at the school, participating in a number of sports, which no doubt he felt accented the military training he'd go through when he presumably joined the Military Guild like his parents. It was clear he enjoyed making everyone feel they were inferior and that they were somehow weaker than him, whether they were or not. He enjoyed the illusion of invincibility and superiority he'd cultivated over the years.

His golden hair combed straight back and as slick as the crystals at the tops of mountains, mixed with his blazing pale blue eyes, made his impression of being the pinnacle of Kryptonian perfection starkly apparent to all looking at him. _Well, "the pinnacle of Kryptonian perfection" in_ _ **his**_ _mind, anyway,_ thought Alex curtly. _His mind, and the minds of his little groupies, and his bitchy assed little girlfriends there._

The two sisters circled Alex, and incidentally Kara and Thara, slowly, like two hawks circling a mouse, both sneering with smug expressions. "Look, Gan, Mina, its lonely little Alex, poor little orphan girl," said Tora, stopping in front of Alex. The sadistic smile she wore was as sharp as a phased energy beam. "How does it feel to be brought to a real city, and kept like a rodent, hidden away by your new family that just loves you oh, so much? It's funny, you've been here for two years, and other than here, I've never seen you out. You don't go shopping, you don't go to any entertainment, you stay hidden away like the miserable insect you are."

"I think you're wrong, Tora," said Mina, stopping beside her sister, and casting a self righteous glance over the three girls. "I don't think she stays hidden at all. I think her new family _keeps_ her hidden away, because they're ashamed of the weirdo that they took in. I mean, look at her. She's slow in class, she can't answer questions anyone with half a grain of intelligence could answer easily, she goes and hides when she doesn't have to be around people, and she's just strange in general. She comes out here and stares and stares at the sky, like she's never seen the sky before. Most of the time, she seems lost in her head, probably wondering why she's even still alive."

"Stop it!" exclaimed Kara in a surprisingly quiet voice. Her fists were clenched tight, and she was actually shaking in anger. "You'd better stop talking like that about her, I mean it. She's done nothing to you, and hasn't said anything about you, any of you. Leave her alone." It was all she could do not to scream at the top of her lungs. Meanwhile, the other kids that had exited the building with them had stopped and were watching. Most of them were laughing, and pointing at Alex, and saying nasty things about her too, they just weren't as brave and loud as Tora, Mina, and Gan.

"Really? What are you going to do, Kara Zor El? Drown us in your angry little tears?" asked Gan snidely. He stepped up to where the two girls were and shrugged. "She's a freak, I know it, Tora and Mina know it, they all know it," he pointed at the kids listening and saying mean things as they listened. "And, honestly, _you_ know it, too. You pretend that you like her, that you don't get angry and upset about the weird and stupid stuff she says and does. She's a low life piece of useless and rankless shit. She should be living in the trash with the rest of the rankless scum, not attending a good school in a city where those with a rank and guild get a good education and live a good life. She thinks she's become someone because she got adopted and she got a respected House name with a ranked family. She's just the same useless trash with a shiny new label now."

Thara was angry for Alex; she hated seeing her be treated like this day after day. Truth be told, this was actually nicer than the sorts of things they usually said or did to the poor girl. Usually, they were a lot worse. Thara thought it was a wonder they hadn't hurt her so badly they drove her to suicide. It seemed to be exactly what they were trying to do, though, whether they admitted so or not.

They tore her down in every way possible, insulting her like they were at that moment, making nasty comments and encouraging others to do the same about some odd habits that she had, berating her for not being actual family to the House of El, and just about anything else you could imagine. Their seeming hatred for her was completely and totally irrational; she couldn't see the slightest shred of logic behind any of it.

Maybe they felt threatened by her in some way, though she couldn't imagine how or why. Alex was quiet, sure, but sweet, kind, and was a lot stronger than Thara thought she herself would be, if this kind of thing happened to her like it did to Alex every day. Krypton was supposed to be an enlightened world, a veritable utopia where such behaviors and thoughts should never have even been considered, let alone voiced, and the things they would do to Alex like shaking a bag of rodent droppings into her food during lunch, or something else ridiculous like that should never be done, or tolerated. However, here it was, in all its resplendent cruelty, the bad core at the center of the fruit.

That was it that was the final straw. Kara had heard enough, put up with enough out of them for the day. Alex had had to endure this all day every day, from the early morning hours when Rao was low in the sky until the evening, when it was close to going down. Almost without fail, they kept going until she and Alex finally got inside the house. They never let up, they never stopped, and they just kept going. That was going to change, Kara thought, and it was going to change right then.

Alex had simply been listening, letting them get it out of their system. It hurt, of course, but she couldn't knock them across the city, as much as she wanted to, not without causing an insane amount of trouble for her family. She could see Kara's fists shaking, and she reached out to touch Kara's arm, saying, "Kara, just ignore them, that's what I—"

As Alex was saying that, she was abruptly cut off when Kara swung her fist hard and fast, and caught Gan in the mouth. Blood exploded from his nose and mouth, and the boy reeled from the most unexpected punch from the small girl before him. _"I said stop talking about her like that!"_ roared Kara in anger.

As Gan stumbled backwards, off balance, he was trying to catch onto something, anything, to break his fall, but it didn't matter. Kara was on him instantly, and she punched him twice more in the face on the way down to the grass covered ground of the garden. She stomped him hard in the stomach, and then whirled towards Tora and Mina.

The two girls' expressions had gone from snide, cruel amusement to absolute shock, and a healthy amount of terror as Kara's eyes burned into them. "You think you're so perfect, so important, and that you stand far above anybody and everybody else. You think you're Rao's gift to the world, that nobody is as good as you. You're not, not at all. You're _pathetic_ is what you are," she growled in a low voice, with her fists still clenched.

The two girls looked at each other as the very angry Kara approached them with slow, measured steps, stalking them like a predator stalking its prey. Mina's face twisted in hatred, and she swung hard and fast at Kara, but she never learned how to defend herself, or do anything for herself if she could get someone else to do it. Kara easily sidestepped the punch and whirled, her elbow struck the back of Mina's head and she went down, her face meeting the grass with a loud _oof._ It was obvious to onlookers that Kara had studied at least some in the martial art _klurkor._

Tora tried to back up, but found herself backed against the hedge that ran along that part of the garden. She'd already seemed at least a little frightened to start with, but when she saw how effortlessly Kara dispatched her sister, that look got a lot more pronounced. Kara was seething, "You have no right to talk to, or about, Alex like that, not now, or ever."

Before anything else could happen, three teachers burst through the door leading out to the garden and demanded to know what was going on. Students were detained and questioned, and several widely varying stories were given. They were rounded up and collected, and were all taken to the Administrator's office to explain what happened and why.

Outside the Administrator's office, Kara and Alex sat, waiting for their turn to tell their side of the story. Alex turned slightly, and tilted her head, saying softly, "You didn't have to do any of that, you know. You shouldn't get yourself in trouble because of me. Let them say what they want, and do what they want. They're not worth the time and effort. They hate me so much because they hate themselves, I think." She paused for a long moment, and then squeezed Kara's hand with a gentle squeeze. "Thank you, though, all the same. It was nice."

Kara squeezed her hand back, and shook her head. "Yes, I did. They had no place or right to talk to you or about you like that, or to do the things they've done to you all this time. Besides, you didn't really think I was going to just let them keep going, did you?" she asked, as she leaned against Alex's shoulder. She knew it wasn't like Alex couldn't defend herself, or her own honor, but it was her place, she felt, because she was Alex's sister, and the House of El's philosophy was "stronger together," and the virtue of hope.

She knew that no matter how nonchalant Alex tried to be about it, the truth was it hurt her very deeply, and just magnified the guilt and loss she had still burning inside her from the destruction of her world. Even then, two years after she'd come to Krypton, she still woke up with nightmares and such, and she still struggled with the feelings of grief when she thought no one was around. It didn't happen as often as it did at first, but it had never really stopped, and she doubted it ever would, not completely. She always told Kara she was fine, and Kara pretended to believe her, because Alex needed her to let her deal with it on her own, no matter how much she appreciated Kara's help. So, she just found ways to let Alex know that she was always there for her, no matter what.

"You're my sister, Alex," continued Kara, and as was her way, she wrapped Alex in a tight hug. "You'd do the same for me; I know you would, so how could I not do it for you? What kind of sister would I be if I just let that go on without saying or doing anything?"

"You'd be a sister that's not in trouble right now, and will probably be in more trouble when we get home," Alex answered with a light smile and a soft laugh. She returned Kara's hug, and for whatever reason, feeling that unconditional acceptance and love that sisters can give each other always seemed to make every bad situation more tolerable, and made it better.

She was imagining how the talk they were sure to have when they got back home was going to go, and she didn't imagine it going very well. Alura and Zor El were very understanding, and very supportive, but she was afraid they may think Kara went to unnecessary extremes. She couldn't help but smile a little though, because unnecessary or not, she was sure that particular bunch would think twice before openly doing that sort of thing again, and besides, just the shocked and then terrified looks on their faces was well worth the price of admission.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Earth**_

 **Chapter 10**

The incident in the school garden had been almost two weeks prior, yet Alura and Zor El continued to caution both girls to avoid conflicts, and to report to a faculty member any further abuse by the other children. Every time they said the word "children" Alex felt an involuntary shudder and flush of annoyance. _I'm not a goddamned child. I'm sixteen years old. These little shits aren't children either. They're plenty old enough to know what they're doing, and that it's wrong, it's abusive, and it's just plain damned mean. There's not a fraction of a child involved in any of this, unless you count their mentality and maturity level,_ thought Alex grumpily as the caution was given once more as she and Kara were on their way to school.

She sighed to herself as she gathered her things, and left the house alongside Kara. Alex knew that Alura and Zor El were just trying to minimize trouble, and attention, that was placed on them both, but especially her, but regardless, it just drove her nuts. It wasn't Kara's parents that she was upset with, she knew that already, they just unintentionally added to the frustration and stress, rather than alleviated it as they were trying to do. She loved them for their intentions, even if the results were far less than stellar.

Once outside, the two girls seemed to breathe easier. Kara glanced at Alex, worried. The night before, Alex had awoken screaming worse than she had in a long time. She'd had another nightmare, obviously, but it seemed as if it were as bad as when she first arrived. Over the past couple of years, the nightmares had become less frequent, and less intense, though she still had them from time to time. Since the incident at school, she'd had one almost every night, and had awoken in a cold sweat, and almost completely unaware of where she was or of the fact that she was safe.

Of course, when Kara had asked about it, she downplayed it, trying to make it sound as if it were really nothing, just a bad dream and nothing she should have screamed over. Alex had claimed that her lingering irritation with what had happened had probably made her overreact to the dream, which she couldn't remember other than vague impressions, anyway. So she said, at least. Kara wasn't buying it, though. There was a lot more to it than just a stupid bad dream, as Alex had described it. Alex was tough, as tough as they come, and if something had her screaming like that from a dream, the dream had to have been very vivid and very real to her perception in the dream.

They chit chatted as they walked along, since both girls enjoyed the exercise from walking instead of taking the skimmer, or riding public transportation, and the conversation was the normal stuff, little things that were unimportant and that meant nothing, really. Alex seemed to be trying very hard to put on a front of being perfectly okay, and that waking up in the middle of the night screaming, and slamming her fist through a nightstand was just a silly overreaction.

They came to a point that they were just around the corner from the school, and Kara stopped suddenly, and put her hand on Alex's arm. When Alex stopped, confused, Kara grabbed her wrist and dragged her into the mouth of an alleyway in between the very tall buildings, behind a trash processing unit. They were out of sight of anyone nearby, and as alone as one could be on the streets of Argo City.

"What's going on, Kara?" asked Alex as they moved behind the unit. She tilted her head, and furrowed her brows. Realization suddenly rolled over her features and she put up her hands, palms out towards her sister. "Look, Kara, if you're going to interrogate me, _again,_ about that stupid assed dream, don't, okay? It was nothing. I'm perfectly fine, I promise you. The only thing bugging me about it is the fact that you keep insisting that you think something about it is bugging me."

Kara's expression was apologetic, but also a firm standing of her ground. She reached up and folded her hands around Alex's. "You keep saying that, but just because you keep saying it doesn't make it true," replied Kara. Her expression softened a bit, and her voice dropped some in volume as she continued, "It's just me, no one else is here. You can talk to me, Alex. You know that by now, don't you? I'm here for you, whenever you need, however you need. I always will be. Now, please, tell me what's going on?"

Alex drew in a deep breath, and opened her mouth to protest yet again, but she was cut off by an abrupt comment from inside her bag. "Kara's right, you know, Alex. Your heart rate is accelerated, your breathing is arrhythmic, your blood pressure has spiked five points, and your adrenaline production has nearly doubled. You are not being truthful," said Jessica, still in the form of the orb with swirling colors. "Based upon my observations of your interactions with each other, and both of your interactions with other people, I can say there is a 98.8559792% chance that Kara will not only continue her pursuit of the matter, but that you will wear down and capitulate within the next thirty six hours. Therefore, you should save yourself the emotional disturbances this will cause in the interim, and simply provide the information Kara has asked for."

"Who the hell asked _you?_ " growled Alex, as she opened the bag and stared down at the offending orb. Jessica's colors continued to swirl without change, despite Alex's withering glare. "When I want your opinion, I'll give it to you," she continued, but she couldn't stop the corners of her mouth turning ever so slightly upwards, a ghost of a smile that indicated that she was joking.

Jessica sounded almost smug as she responded, "I can sense your physiological processes changing, indicating that you're being funny, or at least _you_ think you're being funny. As a result, your threats are negated by your own failure to possess complete control over autonomic reactions, so there!" The AI proceeded to do a very good impersonation of someone blowing raspberries at her.

The two girls both felt laughter exploding from their mouths as they laughed heartily for several moments. "You're getting to be too human for your own good, you know that, right?" Alex asked the AI, who continued to swirl and pulse contentedly. "Okay, okay, okay, so you busted me. Are you happy now, Little Miss Tattle Tale?"

"Quite," answered the artificial intelligence matrix, sounding as smug as the kids at school that tormented her did more often than not. "But I'll be even happier when you stop trying to feed Kara bullshit, and just speak plainly. You'll feel better afterwards."

Alex put her hands to her temples, and then pushed her fingers back through her hair. "I knew it was a mistake, taking her off the ship. I _knew_ it," she said in a grumbling voice, though she was laughing the whole time she spoke. She closed the bag again, and took a deep breath, and let it out slowly.

"It really is okay, Alex," said Kara softly, meeting Alex's gaze with her own. "Whatever it is, however you're feeling, whatever you're thinking, no matter what's going on with you, you can talk to me. I'll always do everything I can to help you, and if I can't, I'll find someone or some way that can."

Alex looked up at her sister, she couldn't imagine life without Kara being her sister now, and nodded softly. "I know I can," she replied, swallowing rather hard. "It's stupid, I guess. I'm embarrassed, ashamed; I don't know what I'm feeling about it, actually. It just seems so unimportant, given the scope of things in comparison, you know?" She squeezed the pendant on the necklace that was her mother's with one hand, and rubbed her fingers over the smooth surface of her dad's bracelet with the other. The entire time she'd been on Krypton, she'd never removed either piece of jewelry, and wouldn't let anyone else take them off either.

Kara reached up, and framed Alex's face with her hands in a gentle touch. She waited for Alex to raise her eyes again before she spoke, "If you keep thinking about it, and keep dreaming about it, it obviously _is_ important, especially to you. 'The scope of things' includes you, and what you feel. You're allowed to feel, to laugh, to hurt, to cry, to smile, to do anything and everything your feelings inspire within you. It's okay for you to feel something, no matter what it is. You're supposed to feel."

Despite her strongest and most valiant effort, a fat tear formed in her eye, and rolled down her cheek, eventually running over Kara's hand touching her. "I never got to say good bye, or that I loved them," she said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. "Sure, I know they knew it, but when you say it, it has a sort of power. It gives meaning, and closure, to the whole experience. They launched the ship before I got the chance to, and I am afraid, deep inside, that maybe they didn't know."

She reached up, and with the palm of her hand she firmly wiped away the tear, and tried to clear her eyes, even as she sniffled. "I'll never hear them again, never talk to them again, I'll never get the chance to just look them in the eye, and tell them any of that. The memories I have of those last few moments are me leaving them behind to die, without saying any of that. I just lifted off, and flew up into the sky, and out into space, without a further word."

Kara reached out and pulled the older girl into a tight, warm hug, and held her for long, long moments, refusing to let her go until she was sure Alex didn't need to hold on. Her voice was a cracked whisper, "Oh, Rao, I can't even imagine how that must feel. No wonder you're so torn up, and why you have such vivid and real feeling dreams. But you have to know, you _have_ to know, that they knew you loved them. They put all their love, hopes and dreams into that ship with you, so you would survive, so you would live. Whatever afterlife you believe in, wherever they are, Alex, they _know_ you love them. You say so many things without saying a word, sometimes. There are no words for expressing those things under those circumstances."

The two girls stood there, holding each other, for the longest time. Alex clung to her as if she was drowning, and in a sense, she was. But, as always, Kara found a way to ease some of that, to give her a sense and feeling of peace, even if it was only temporary. By the time they finally found their way to school, they were literally only seconds before classes started.

X

Three weeks passed, and the nightmares still came, but they weren't as bad. Alex didn't wake up screaming at the top of her lungs like she often did before. When she did wake up, fevered, and shaking, Kara would talk with her and keep her grounded. Progress was slow, but it was progress. The young Kryptonian knew there was no time limit or expiration date on grief, and considering the distorted guilt Alex had, it was no wonder to her that Alex still hadn't completely processed her grief.

During that time, Zor El had borrowed Jessica on several occasions, often for the entire day and evening. Kara had helped her father with whatever it was that he was doing pretty often, which left Alex alone with Alura. It wasn't a bad thing, Alex thought. It let her get to know Alura better, and she found the woman to be very motherly with her. She knew she was like that, but it seemed so much clearer and magnified during that time. It wasn't the same as with her own mother, but it wasn't much different, either.

X

Alura was reviewing some trials she would be overseeing during the week, so she wasn't able to talk as much as she had been the past several days, but Alex understood that. She was a judge, a high ranking one, and as such, she had a lot of responsibilities. Alex couldn't, and didn't, begrudge her that, though it had been actually really nice getting to know her better as she had during those days.

As a result, she found herself studying, and was deep in trying to put her paper together on the theories of transdimensional bridging, and the theory of the possibility of a multiverse, as opposed to branching timelines within one time continuum. The idea was certainly an intriguing one, that instead of merely different outcomes and decisions affecting a single time stream, resulting in tributaries of alternate events, but that it was possible that there were entire universes that existed in the same space, but that had their own vibrational frequency, which formed a dimensional wall of sorts between them. In such alternate universes, radical differences could most likely be found, such as a universe where Earth wasn't destroyed, and she was still at home, for example.

Her attention was diverted when Kara suddenly sat down on the foot of the bed, and touched her calf lightly. "How's studying going?" she asked with a soft smile, the sort of smile she wore when she was concerned, but optimistic about how Alex was doing at that particular moment. "You seem very interested in it, which is good, right?"

Alex sighed, and set the tablet and other stuff aside, and stretched slowly. "Oh, it's interesting enough, all right," she answered. "It's actually going pretty well. Things are making a lot more sense to me these days than they did when I first got here, so I must be learning something, right?"

"Maybe so," answered Kara, still smiling. She cleared her throat, and tilted her head. "Would you want to take a break for a few, and come with me? Father has something he'd like very much for you to see. It's something he and I have been putting together for you, with Jessica's help."

That piqued Alex's interest, and stirred her curiosity. She frowned slightly as she scooted off the bed, and put her feet on the floor. "Putting together something for me?" she asked, clearly confused. "What do you mean? I thought Jessica was helping your dad access information from the ship that she didn't have the chance to download with her when we crashed?"

"She is," Kara responded, as she took Alex's hand and exited the room with her. The rest of the house was a comfortable temperature, and it had felt good, actually, to Alex. The past few days, she'd found it mildly stuffy in the house, but she ventured outside only rarely. Kara had actually been thankful for this, because she and Zor El wanted to be ready before she accidentally stumbled across the project.

"But she's also been helping us put together some data and stuff for this little thing we've been doing," Kara continued. They went through the living part of the house, and to the lift, which took them to Zor El's lab. The house was actually pretty large, with several levels, but of course, most buildings in Argo City were like that.

"Okay, Kara, you're killing me here," said Alex as they stepped out of the lift into the lab. "What's this 'little thing' you've been doing? And why the hell are you being so vague about it?" She liked surprises okay enough, good ones at least, but Kara was being far too secretive for her to not be paranoid about this surprise. She couldn't imagine what it could possibly be, either.

"I'll let Father tell you," Kara said, giving her hand a squeeze, and smiling lightly at her before moving over out of the way of the table her father was standing at, and the large raised dais that stood a few feet away. This only made Alex more curious than before.

Zor El smiled at her, and gave her a warm hug as Kara moved to the side. Like Alura, he had been very parental with her, not just in practical means, but emotional ones as well. They both cared very much for her, loved her, and she knew that and returned it. He patted her cheek lightly, and waved her closer.

"I'm sure you're wondering what all this mystery is, so I'll get right to the point," Zor El started, and he turned so he could face both girls. "Alura, Kara and I have noticed that like anyone in your position, you have been missing your actual parents, and I'm sure other people as well. Then Kara told us a little about a conversation the two of you had a few weeks ago." Seeing the expression on her face, he held up his hands, "Kara didn't tell us any details or anything of that nature. All she said was that you wished you'd had more time to speak with your parents before you had to leave, and that you would probably feel calmer and more at peace if you could interact with them."

Alex glanced over at Kara, who was blushing a little, embarrassed that Alex thought she'd told them things that should have been confidential between the two of them and nodded slowly, listening. She smiled gently towards Kara to let her know that she wasn't upset or angry, just confused.

Zor El waited for a moment, as he watched the two of them, and then pressed on. "As you know, I've borrowed Jessica extensively the past couple of weeks. I've been having her help me retrieve the information from your ship's computers that she was unable to download when we had to hide your ship. In doing so, she discovered some files that she was supposed to make available to you during your flight before you reached your acceleration point, but due to the sequence of events, she hadn't been able to present them to you."

Alex nodded wordlessly, and after a brief pause, Zor El continued, "The files were recordings that your parents had made, I would assume they were probably messages conveying personal things, perhaps farewells, or something similar." He let Alex digest that information a moment before he picked back up, "In either event, Jessica expressed the importance of retrieving those files in particular, and giving them to you. Alura, Kara and I thought it might help you to see and hear them, but since it'd been so long since you were supposed to see them, and you've gotten used to the technology here, it might actually enhance your experience with them to view them in a more Kryptonian contemporary way."

Alex's brows furrowed a moment before she asked, "So, you basically are saying you've got some 'to be played after we're dead' messages that you found that I was supposed to watch before we got yanked into that distortion?" Her voice was soft and the whirlwind of emotions of seeing and hearing her parents, even in a recording, was playing across her features.

"More than just that, Alex," said Kara softly, as she moved to stand next to her. She nodded towards Zor El to explain further, so Alex might understand exactly what they had done.

The scientist took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "We've managed to convert those recordings into three dimensional holographic projections for you, so you can feel more immersive with them," he explained, brushing a hand paternally over Alex's cheek a moment. "Then we started talking with Jessica, and made a discovery. She has several files of their knowledge of you, more or less journals or something of that nature. They're fairly sparse, but they're there. So, we programmed them into the matrix for your parents' holograms, so they can use an artificial intelligence interface to actually, truly, interact with you. However, their memories and knowledge of you and your life are going to be pretty limited. There wasn't a lot of information of that type that Jessica had."

Alex listened in a bit of a shocked state, and finally found her voice. "So, I can have them give me their messages, and they'll have odds and ends types of memories of me, and information about us as a family? That's better than nothing, definitely. It would be at least a little bit of a chance to actually feel like I'm talking to them sometimes," she said, keeping herself calm, without any sort of emotional turbulence.

"Yes, but that's not all, Alex, that's not all she had and that we've been working on at all," interjected Kara, giving Alex a warm hug that she was sure that Alex would need shortly, once the details had been given to her completely.

Zor El nodded at Kara's words, and smiled lightly, indicating the dais. "Jessica also had files that we could use to construct algorithms for your parents' individual personalities. They were extensive analyses of their speech patterns, their typical thoughts, beliefs, reactions, all that sort of thing," he explained, and his voice rose just a little in restrained excitement. "So, the AI can learn from those files, and from interactions with people, especially you, and respond with actions and answers that would be fairly close to how your parents would actually respond. Now, that does come with a caveat, so please be aware of this. Those files give the AI an approximation of how they would most likely behave. It won't be perfect, and it probably won't be completely accurate to what you remember them being like, but it should be somewhat close."

"But it would be reasonably close, and it would give me a partial illusion of actually interacting with them? At least enough that I might not miss them so much?" Alex asked quietly. Her eyes moved from Kara's face to Zor El's and back several times, a look of hope in her own. "And they would evolve as they learned more, and possibly become even more like Mom and Dad?"

"Yes, that's the intent and hope, at least. We wanted to be sure we could get them as close as possible, so that it wouldn't be a complete disappointment for you," he said, laying the tablet he'd been holding down on the table.

Impulsively, Alex grabbed Kara and gave her a tight hug, or at least as tight as she dared so she wouldn't hurt her, and held her for a long moment. Once she released Kara, she grabbed Zor El and hugged him as well. She held on for long moments, just standing there, and finally released him as well. It was the longest she'd ever hugged Zor El, Kara was sure.

"Thank you, both of you, all of you," sniffled Alex, trying desperately to control her runaway emotions. She didn't want to break down into a blubbering fool in front of them. "I'll never be able to tell you how much this means to me."

Zor El chuckled softly, and nodded towards Jessica. "You can thank her for most of it," he answered, giving her a squeeze back as she released him. "She had the files, and gave me the idea to start work on it. She and Kara did a lot of the work. But you're very welcome, Alex. I know we've told you more times than you can count, but you're family. We'll let you have some time to get acquainted with the holograms of your parents."

He put his arm around Kara and they gave her a last smile, and then headed to leave the lab, but Alex suddenly ran the few steps to catch up with them, and grabbed them both carefully. She met their eyes, back and forth, and her face softened. "I know I don't say this much…to be honest, I probably don't say it at all most of the time…but thank you, and I love you, all of you, so much."

Her arms came around the both of them in a long, emotional hug before she let them go. When she let go, Zor El kissed the top of her head softly, a light smile gracing his features. "We love you too, Alex. We always will," he said and then started moving out of the lab again.

Kara reached over and kissed her cheek and gave her another hug for good measure. "Stronger together, together always," she said, unable to contain the happiness she felt for Alex at that moment. "Now, go on and talk with them, listen to what they had to say, and just enjoy being around them for a while. I'll see you when you finish, okay? I love you, Sister."

Alex watched the both of them leave the lab, and then turned, looking at the dais for a moment. She'd seen them operate similar things before, so she had a good idea of how it worked. She powered it up, and lights flickered, and finally, there were the holographic forms of her parents. They smiled at her, and gave her the looks they gave her so many times. Alex's eyes flooded, but the tears weren't all sad this time. Happy ones were mixed in there as well.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Earth**_

 **Chapter 11**

"Hello, Alex," said the hologram of Jeremiah with a smile. It was a wistful one, but sincere, and it had an odd mixture of sadness and happiness in his face, and tone. These were the messages her parents had actually left for her, so she knew these would be actual words that they had intended for her.

"Our brave, strong, wonderful little girl," said the hologram of Eliza. "Only you're not a little girl anymore, are you? You're an amazing young woman, with a very rich and full life ahead of you." Like the image of Jeremiah, she wore a wistful, but oddly sad and happy, smile. It was obvious from the way they looked, and the clothes they wore, these had been recorded only a couple of days before everything ended.

Alex had to catch herself for a moment. It sounded really odd hearing English, after so long speaking Kryptonian. She'd speak with Jessica in English a lot, and had even taught Kara some English so they could communicate with complete privacy, especially at school, if they didn't want anyone to know what they were talking about. They still had to be careful, even then, because the language was no language that had ever been spoken on Krypton before, of course. Even so, she didn't use it all the time, so hearing it at length was disconcerting.

Jeremiah's image chuckled, and shook his head, "No, you're not a little girl anymore, far from it. Anyway, sweetheart, there's some things we'd wanted to say to you, to tell you, but we know we're not going to get the chance to say them all before it's too late, so we thought we'd hit the highlights here. Also, we hope it'll help you stay strong in the face of the strange unknown that you're about to set foot in, and the road you'll travel the rest of your life." The emotions her parents had been feeling were evident on their faces, in their eyes, though they were trying to keep the messages as upbeat as possible.

Eliza folded her hands in front of her as she often did in life when she was trying to be reassuring and calming, and said, "We know you're sad, sweetie, and we know how upset you must be, and having just experienced everything that you have, things that no one should ever have to experience, we're sure you may be feeling a lot of things, confused, hurt, angry, so many things, but your father and I are hoping that you can put that all aside for a few minutes, and listen to us."

"As you know by now, Earth is doomed. There's no saving it, and there's no way to evacuate even part of the population, as much as we wish that weren't the case. By now, the Earth is gone, and you're on your way to your new home," Jeremiah picked up, his voice taking that patient, understanding tone it usually did when he was explaining things to her that weren't pleasant. "Your mother and I know that when you finally get there, it'll feel like anything _but_ home. The word 'alien' won't be some abstract concept, you'll truly experience what it feels like to be surrounded by alien people, an alien culture, an alien language, an alien way of life, and probably everything else that you take for granted that will be radically different than what you've always had here."

"Knowing J'Onn, we know that kindness is not just a human concept," Eliza continued, her face wearing one of those optimistic and hopeful smiles she usually wore. "It's a universal concept, an idea inherent in some form to most life, we hope. It's our firm and fervent hope that you are able to find someone to help you, to teach you about life on your new planet that will maybe even be able to form a close bond and connection with you. We hope that you'll find someone that can be like family to you, instead of you simply being someone that's completely different to them. We hope and pray that you won't be isolated and alone. We hope for so much more for you."

Jeremiah cleared his throat, and took a long breath, that breath that usually preceded something that they'd rather not have to contend with, but it was for the greater good, that she knew so well. "The group of stars we're aiming for is fairly large, all stars within a relatively short distance from one another," he said, shifting his position, probably on the couch that he and her mother often sat on together. "According to J'Onn, they all have at least one habitable planet, all with civilizations more advanced than ours. We're aiming for a yellow star, where there's a planet a lot like Earth, for you to travel to. Its people are, according to the _Martian Compendium of Known Worlds,_ similar to humans in a lot of ways, though their appearance is different. While their appearance will be a little strange, many things about them will be at least somewhat similar to us. It's that commonality that we're hopeful will be strong and central enough that they'll welcome you, rather than leaving you to be a complete outsider."

"We'd never send you there if we thought that they'd treat you in a negative way, sweetheart," the image of Eliza commented. "If the information J'Onn provided is currently accurate, you should have minimal difficulty fitting in there."

Jeremiah glanced at Eliza a moment, and then looked back towards her. "The ship is capable of liftoff and manual flight, if it should become necessary for you to go to another destination instead. The instructions are in the manual there in the side compartment to your left. We compiled it for you, to help you keep safe." There was a mildly amused look on his face as he mentioned the manual. She hated manuals and her dad had known it.

"But that's enough of all that. That's not what you were hoping to hear, we're sure," Eliza smiled gently again. The emotion was stronger on her face than it was just moments before. "The computer on board has all the information you need on the operation of the ship and stuff, so that's not the important part of this conversation."

She paused, and took Jeremiah's hand in hers, and it was obvious she was squeezing it tightly, and her eyes grew shiny. "You are the absolute most important, most vital, most central part of us, our feelings, and our very existence, Alex," the image of her mother said with that quiet passion she often had about emotional things. "Everything good about us, everything good we know and cherish is made solid and real by you, our daughter. We've never wanted anything for you but the very best, and for you to know that you were loved more than anything in the universe, and that we would do anything to make you as happy and content as we possibly could. Everything that makes us, and the human race, the exceptional species it is lives inside you. Maybe that's a little biased, but parents are allowed to be biased towards their children like that."

Her father shook his head, and got that sad look that he tried so hard to hide, but Alex could always see right through it, and him. "I guess it's pretty obvious that we don't really know how to say everything we could possibly hope to say to you in a few minutes. We're not even sure what we _should_ say, what would be something that you'd need to know and hear, and what's just two scientists rambling on about things. As much as we love you, as much as you mean to us, you'd think we'd be better prepared to tell you all that. I guess it's easier to tell you how much we love you when we're not staring certain destruction in the face; the words come easier when you think you have all the time in the world. You just never expect 'all the time in the world' to be so limited, as in immediately limited."

Eliza went into the arms of her husband, both looking towards the camera that had recorded their message, and explained, "We love you beyond words, Alex. We saved you not only because of how much you mean to us, and how much we love you, but also because you're so strong, so resilient, and a true survivor. We know you can make it in whatever situation or on whichever world you find yourself."

The holographic message continued for several minutes, with Alex sitting in a chair that resembled a bean bag chair on Earth, letting her emotions run freely for the first time since she arrived on Krypton, and feeling an odd sort of comfort, seeing them and hearing their voices once more.

X

Alex had stayed in the lab, interacting with the holograms of her parents for several hours that first night, amazed at how much like her parents the holograms were, and how much more like them they were becoming. The second night, she'd asked Kara to join her in interacting with them. Kara had enthusiastically accepted the invitation, and the girls had spent a long time in the lab with the representations.

A week after, Alex was studying some of the notes she'd taken for a very important test that was coming up. She'd been trying to cram and force as much of it into her mind as she could. The math and science was far beyond anything she'd even heard of, let alone studied, on Earth. Even so, her time on Krypton, and Kara, Zor El, and Alura's assistance had helped her greatly come more on par with the typical level of education for someone her age. Over the past couple of years, such things had become infinitely easier once she started grasping some of the basic concepts.

She was to the point where she felt it best if she set it aside for a while, and just relax a little. She was starting to get a headache, and from the way it felt, it seemed like it was going to be particularly bad if she kept pushing herself. She'd been wondering about what Kara had been doing, since the younger girl said she didn't want to distract her from her studying a few hours before.

She didn't have to wonder long, because moments after that thought echoed in her mind Kara came bursting into the room, a veritable ball of excitement. "Aunt Astra's here!" she exclaimed, as she grabbed Alex's arm. "Come on, let's go see her!" Kara started tugging on her, trying to get her to stand and follow her.

Not long after she'd arrived, she'd met Alura's twin sister, Astra. She was a general in Krypton's military forces, and a high ranking member of the Military Guild. In many ways, she was like Alura, but she had her differences as well. She was kind hearted like her sister, and she was especially fond of Kara, since she didn't have any children of her own. It was obvious from the first time she met her that she had doted on Kara all her life, and the two had a special and strong connection.

A major difference between Astra and Alura was that Alex loved Alura's husband, Kara's father, Zor El. He was a wonderful man and father, and he and Alura treated her as if she were really their child. Astra's husband, however, was a very different story. Non, Astra's husband, was a subordinate of Astra's in the military, and he was a special kind of asshole, Alex thought. He was rude, abrasive, arrogant, self important, and just generally the sort that oozed bad news.

It was pretty obvious from the beginning, the first time she'd met the man that Kara's family didn't really care much for the man. Astra loved him, though, she figured, although Astra's demonstrations of love were vastly different than Alura's for Zor El, at least they were to Alex. Further complicating things was the fact that Non absolutely hated Kara's family. Oh, he was polite enough, if you really stretched the definition of polite, but the seething contempt and disdain was evident in his tone, and it dripped from every word that fell from his mouth. Alex had never met someone so condescending, and such a toxic person in her life.

Thankfully, Non had only been present a few times when Astra had come to visit. When Alex had first met Astra, she'd been alone, and she had been sworn to secrecy by Kara's family about Alex, and the truth of her situation. She was even sworn to never tell Non about her true situation, and to Alex's perception, she didn't seem particularly broken up about that. It almost seemed like she wasn't very fond of him, either, and she was married to the man.

For his part, Non liked her even less than he liked Kara and the rest of her family, but Astra was another matter entirely. Like her sister, and her family, Astra was very fond of Alex, and treated her as if she were true family, as well. It took a few times around her for each of them to warm up to the other, but it hadn't taken very long, and she doted on Alex as much as she did Kara. Alex wasn't sure how she'd gotten lucky enough to be taken in by a family that was so generous, kind and giving, but she wasn't going to complain.

Alex was shaken from her reverie as Kara continued to drag her back down the hallway towards the gathering room. Sure enough, there on the couch sat Astra, dressed in dark blue, much like Alura usually wore, but where Alura tended to wear dresses more often than not, Astra's clothing was a top and pants. Though it didn't have any sort of insignia, or other military paraphernalia on it, Alex figured it was some sort of fatigue uniform, or something similar.

Astra saw the girls coming into the room, and her face lit up. A broad smile came to her lips as she stood, and held out her arms for her nieces to come into. "There's my Little Ones," she said, laughing, as the two girls practically tackled her and the trio fell back to the couch. Zor El and Alura laughed with them, and watched for a moment, considering this was the expected outcome whenever Astra would come by the house.

The three of them spent several moments hugging, tickling and laughing before Astra sat up, and pushed her dark hair with the gray streak back out of her face. "Okay, okay, I give up. I concede the battle!" she exclaimed, laughing still. She never seemed to tire of the behavior the girls showed when she came to visit. If anything, Alex thought it seemed like it lifted some sort of weight from her when she could laugh with them.

"We're not so little, you know, Aunt Astra," Kara said with mock severity when they all let go of one another. "Alex is sixteen, I'm fifteen, and we're pretty near as big as we're going to get." She was trying very hard not to laugh as she pretended to be indignant, and Alex was pretty much doing the same. It didn't matter how old they were, Astra always called them her Little Ones. It was a playful ritual they all went through, with Astra impugning the girls' near adult status, and them responding in a mock petulant manner. Alex thought it was amazing how something like that was so similar to a lot of such relationships back on Earth.

"I know!" laughed Astra as she gave each girl a tight hug. "Soon, you'll both be bigger than Alura or me. Or at least you may be the same size. You're both growing so fast. It seems like you grow inches in between each visit." They had both undergone growth spurts, it seemed like, and they would manifest themselves on each of Astra's visits, she thought.

Alex glanced around, and then back to Astra. "It's wonderful to see you, Aunt Astra," she said with a sincere tone and smile. "I see you didn't…or did you…come with Non?" She asked because she wanted to make sure the smug, arrogant little shit didn't strut his ass out of one of the other rooms with that perpetual sneer he seemed to wear, especially when in the presence of Kara's family.

Everyone in the room, even Astra, tensed a bit when Alex asked. It was more than obvious the sort of effect even the mention of his name had on those in the room, even Astra, though she tried to hide it pretty well. She couldn't help wondering why Astra even married him, let alone stayed with him for so long afterwards, given how even she seemed less than thrilled with him most of the time. They were just so different in temperament, and in general personality, no one would think they'd be able to avoid killing each other if left in the same room together for five minutes.

Astra shook her head, and a slight frown came to her face. "No, he didn't come with me," she said, looking at all of them in turn. "It's never been a secret that he doesn't particularly care much for any of you, or that none of you are really fond of him, either," she said quietly. "I don't know what it is that he has against any of you so strongly, but whatever it is, I told him that if he can't behave civilly in my sister and brother in law's home, then he isn't welcome here by me, or any of you. So, wisely, he opts not to come with me when I come by."

Kara didn't comment, though Alex thought it seemed like she wanted to. Kara wasn't the type to speak ill of anyone, even someone she personally couldn't stand. In a way, Alex admired that trait in her, and in other ways, she couldn't fathom her extremely optimistic view. It just seemed natural to Alex that if you feel a certain way, you should give voice to those feelings. In either event, Kara's huge heart was a very large part of why Alex was able to survive, instead of giving in to crushing despair long ago. In a very real sense, while all of the family had contributed to welcoming her, and giving her a home, it was Kara that actually saved her, even though she apparently never realized that fact herself.

The conversation went on for quite a while, just little pieces of news and that sort of thing, silly things they all laughed about, and the other stuff any typical family might talk about. It was when the tone of the conversation had gotten more serious that had Alex concerned.

They'd been talking about something to do with the Supreme Council's decision about demanding the alien embassies withdraw their officials and operatives and leave Krypton had gone other than many hoped, including Non. He, and like minded people, most of who were in the Military Guild, saw this as inviting incursion, and possibly invasion, from nearby alien worlds. They cited the allowance of a handful of more representatives in the alien embassies permitted to come on world as a "fatal mistake," since they would consider this allowance a weakness and inevitably attack Krypton.

"He's always been a little overenthusiastic about the Military Guild's responsibility for safeguarding the planet from alien activity," Astra was saying with a slight frown on her face. "But the things he's been talking about lately…Alura, they border on insurrection and borderline terrorism. He's behaving more and more like one of the extremist fanatics all the time. Honestly…he's started to worry me, he's sounding dangerous, and I don't like being put in this position, as his commanding officer, and as his wife."

"Krypton has a long standing intolerance of, and fear of, aliens in general," Zor El said as he leaned back next to Alura, and readjusted his position to something more comfortable. "It's been that way for centuries. However, in the past couple of centuries, the Council has been opening their xenophobic policies up some. It's only been maybe seventy five years since they started permitting aliens from establishing embassies here to deal with issues involving us all again. That kind of fear never seems to die."

Astra nodded, and took a sip of the tea that Alura had made them and they were all sipping. "That's exactly my point, Zor. There have been no incursions, no invasions, no attacks, and not even the slightest indication that any non Kryptonian force has even come near the system, let alone approached the planet," she said in obvious consternation. "Yet, Zod and his ilk are hammering away at anyone that will listen about the mistake in allowing aliens more access to Krypton, and that an invasion is not only an imminent threat, but that it's a fact. They're so certain that life as we know it will be ended on Krypton, due to some imagined war with another world, or other worlds."

"Ah, General Dru Zod, of the noble House of Zod," said Alura somewhat sourly as she put her tea on the table in front of them. The expression on her face was the very definition of distasteful. "His House has given Krypton some of its greatest protectors and military leaders, but Dru Zod is about as noble as a sewer rodent's droppings. He's been preaching this 'we must attack them, and keep Krypton safe, before they attack us' nonsense for years. There's absolutely no evidence, or even basis, for such an insane claim. It doesn't surprise me in the least that Non's in his camp. They're so much alike, it's scary."

Astra nodded softly, and finished her tea. She glanced across the room where Alex and Kara were busily talking with Jessica about something in hushed tones, and then leaned in and spoke quietly, "What's _truly_ worrying me is that for the past few months, Non has been insisting that there are aliens on Krypton that we _don't_ know about living among us, pretending to be Kryptonian. I've heard him speaking with Zod about it on four different occasions now, and frankly, it's got me worried."

Everyone's eyes moved to where Alex and Kara sat, engaged in their own conversation with the orb, Jessica. They lingered on the girls for a moment, and then Alura glanced at Zor El, and then back to Astra. "Do you think he means Alex?" she asked, as the cold tingling sensation raced down her spine. The last thing in the world they needed was for someone to suspect Alex, and lead a witch hunt to expose her.

Astra pulled her eyes away from the girls and her face displayed a deeper frown. Her voice was barely a whisper, "I can't say for sure, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least. He's always been contemptuous of her for whatever reason, simply because he just doesn't like her, I think. But he's been making it a point to mention something about this ridiculous theory of his where he knows I can hear it, and that can't be anything good."


	12. Chapter 12

_**Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Earth**_

 **Chapter 12**

Terrorist attacks, perpetrated by people or factions unknown, had started peppering the news broadcasts in the eighteen months since Astra's visit where she and Kara's family first spoke of the increasingly odd behavior of Astra's husband, Non. The Sagitari nor the local city law enforcement agencies had no apparent leads, other than the attacks were the work of "some extremist faction," which could mean pretty much anything. The planetary military, the Sagitari, under the command of Astra, Zod, and a couple of other generals, worked with the local city law enforcement to try to ascertain the identity of the attacker, or attackers, and what their goals may be by enacting such actions. According to all the reports, little progress, if any, had been made in determining their identity, motives, or goals.

The increasing wave of terrorist activity had forced the Supreme Council's hand, and made it necessary for the entirety of the Council to assemble an emergency meeting at the Central Council Complex to formulate a uniform plan of action to identify, find and apprehend those responsible for the unprecedented attacks on the Kryptonian people, and their off world guests that occupied the various embassies and jointly cooperative buildings that served as official interplanetary offices in various cities. Usually, meetings of the entire Supreme Council in person occurred perhaps once a year, possibly twice if the circumstances required it. Those circumstances had conspired and convalesced into an urgent reason for such a gathering in the past several months.

The Central Council Complex was essentially a small city, comprised of official buildings for the different Guilds and other governmental functions, with the meeting chamber and Central Court in a building in the center of the complex. The entire compound was situated and built upon a large disk which lay in a reasonably central position in Krypton's largest ocean. The great complex and disk was held in place by geostationary engines, which compensated for Krypton's magnetic fields, the currents of the tides and ocean, and other similar factors. By positioning the planetary central government complex in such a location ensured "reasonable representation" for all the large city states around the planet, with each city state being more or less equidistant from the complex, with any disparity in distance from any one being minimal. It lay upon no territory that could be claimed or annexed by any city state, and was by definition a neutral and general location, which would service all Krypton, unbiased by city state ties and allegiances.

The land between city states varied. Some parts were desolate wastelands, which contained many dangers, including toxic air and other inhospitable features, such as the area that existed outside Kandor. Other areas were mild deserts, or lush, overgrown jungles, or even placid plains covered with thriving vegetation. Some areas closer to the poles were crusted over in ice and sunstone crystals, giving the landscape in those areas a very stark and sterile appearance. Various wars, resource harvesting procedures, and other endeavors over thousands of years had given the land between the great domed city states such widely differentiated terrain.

"Do you really have to go, Mother?" asked Kara with a decidedly worried look on her face. The concern, and fear, was obvious as she regarded her mother, with her hand wrapped gently around Alura's forearm. "Isn't it dangerous to be in such an open and secluded place, with these attacks going on?"

Alura smiled at her seventeen year old daughter, and brushed her golden burnished hair back from the girl's face before cupping Kara's cheek with a light touch. "Of course I do. I'm the High Adjudicator of the Kryptonian High Court. As such, I also represent the Lawmakers' Guild in Council affairs," she answered with a reassuring tone. "The Council would not be complete, and a substantial part of Kryptonian society would be without representation during this session if I didn't attend."

"Don't you have some sort of Deputy Adjudicator, or something, that could stand in your stead, and represent your portion of the society in such a meeting?" asked Alex, also genuinely concerned about Alura's welfare. "These attacks seem to be focused primarily on aliens and alien institutions, even if the news doesn't say so, and there's a _lot_ of alien offices and representation in the Central Council Complex." The news had tried to make it seem as if the connection between the attacks and the presence of alien related structures was coincidental, but Alex wasn't convinced, especially with the pattern being so obvious if you simply paid attention.

Alura paused a moment, and then stopped prepping her brief, and sat down on the couch. She patted the seats beside her and nodded to the girls. "Please sit down for a moment, girls," she asked. The girls' eyes and faces spoke the truth of the depth of their concern, and she wanted to allay as much of that fear as possible.

The girls sat on either side of Alura, and she wrapped an arm around each of them and held them close a moment. Finally, she released a breath and alternated looking between them as she spoke, "Yes, it's got a degree of danger to it. I'd be a fool to try and lie and say otherwise. The tensions are pretty high between the isolationists, those that are open to interaction with non Kryptonians, and every stance in between. This tension is there in the extremists of each idea as well, and the more regulated or conservative camps. This entire session is to address that tension, those fears, and is intended to legislate a way to deal with all of this so that every side can lose some of that tension."

She paused, and gave each girl a one armed hug. "Besides," she said with a smile, pulling the girls in so that their heads could all touch. "The Sagitari guarding the session are in direct command of your Aunt Astra, and she'll be present, representing the Military Guild. Her divisions of the Sagitari are fiercely loyal to Astra, and to Krypton. They won't let anything bad happen, I promise you."

The two girls reluctantly withdrew their concerns, and stayed with Alura while she packed. Zor El was going as well, but his role was less prominent than Alura's was. He would, of course, be with the Science Guild's entourage, but he wouldn't be directly involved in the Council meeting itself. Even though they both gave courageous smiles, and seemed to be more at ease with it, neither of them actually were. However, they let their parents leave the house free of further pleas. They simply asked them to be alert and to be safe.

X

The girls left the holo screens with the news broadcasts on, but with the volume turned way down, and went back to sit down. Kara, with her usual bubbly demeanor, sat beside her sister, and laughed lightly. "It's hard to believe that we're going to the Guild Houses and the university. We're both _finally_ legally adults. Have you decided which Guild you're going to petition, Alex?" she asked, as she turned to face Alex, with one leg curled in front of her, and the other foot on the floor.

Alex sat, and put her arm on the back of the couch, somewhat facing Kara, and shrugged a shoulder. She was eighteen, the same age a person was considered a legal adult in the United States back on Earth, so the idea on Krypton was actually quite familiar, except for the whole Guild thing. She shrugged lightly, and ran her fingers back through her hair as she found Kara's eyes with hers.

"I don't know," she answered after a moment. "Probably the Science Guild, I guess. My parents were both scientists, and I was raised with science being a huge part of my everyday life. I think my parents were hoping I'd be a scientist like them, but they never pushed me to be anything but what I wanted to be," she continued. She'd been thinking a lot about home, her family, and people she knew lately, but the thoughts weren't accompanied by blood curdling nightmares, at least not so far. Maybe she was learning to move past it and move on, after all.

Kara nodded, and gave a tiny smile as she settled more into the couch. "If the holograms are truly anything like your real parents, I believe they loved you very much, and believed in you, without any qualm or question," she said. Her fingers wrapped around Alex's hand as she took it, the gesture being something that seemed to bring both of them reassurance and peace since they'd met. "I would have loved to have been able to meet them. I can see how you turned out as amazing as you are, by talking to their AIs."

Alex's cheeks turned red at the compliment, and she looked down, unable to look at Kara for a moment due to the shy embarrassment she felt. Instead, she focused on the way their hands intertwined, the feeling of that security that radiated from so simple a thing. She'd never experienced anything like the effects simply being near Kara, or touching her, had on her. She was much calmer, more at peace and ease, and generally in a better place in her head with Kara around. They'd grown so close, much closer than even sisters, or at least most sisters. Alex felt she couldn't have created a more perfect sister in her mind than the Kryptonian sitting in front of her.

"They were amazing, yeah," she said finally, pushing her hair back behind her ear. "Actually, I'm very, very surprised at how much like my parents the AIs are. They've learned an immense amount of their personalities, their thought processes, just the little quirks and tics they had. Sometimes, I can forget I'm not on Earth and that they're right there, talking to me."

She glanced up at Kara, and saw the expression on her face, and gave her hand a squeeze. "I don't mean that like it sounds, Kara. I'm happy here; I've learned how to let myself be happy here. This is home now, here, with Alura and Zor El, and with _you._ It's just that being able to talk with them…it's like really being with them in a lot of ways," she explained, hoping Kara understood what she was trying to say.

The house communication center chimed suddenly, cutting off whatever Kara had been about to say, and Alex leaned over and checked the ID of the person calling. "It's Ner An," she said, and she didn't know why, but there was an undercurrent of mild aggravation she felt running through her for a split second. "I can go hang out with Jessica if you want to talk to him."

"No, it's okay. I can talk to him later. Right now, _we're_ talking. He can wait, it won't kill him," Kara said, much to her surprise. Usually, Kara was excited about talking to him. She and Ner An weren't very serious, but they'd dated occasionally for the past two years. As far as Alex knew, Kara still liked him, and was still very fond of him, but at least she wasn't gaga like she had been when he'd first asked her out two years earlier.

"Are you sure?" Alex asked in a drawn out tone. "It's okay, really, if you want to talk to him. I know you really like him, and you always have a good time when you two go out. I don't mind going and hanging out with Jessica for a while. I'm not going to have a melt down or anything, I promise."

Kara nodded, and turned to fully face Alex, and took both her hands in her own. "I'm sure. Right now, with everything going on, and all that, talking to you is more important to me at the moment," she said confidently, and gave Alex's hands a light squeeze. "I've been wanting to talk to you anyway. Talk seriously, I mean, and without Mother and Father being around to accidentally overhear it."

That certainly piqued Alex's curiosity, and her expression said as much, as her brows furrowed, and she tilted her head. "Without them being…what do you mean, Kara? What do you want to talk to me about that you don't want them hearing, and why?" she asked, feeling a very cold and tingling sensation racing up her spine to match the cold pit growing in her stomach.

Kara was silent a moment, and she simply seemed to be searching Alex's eyes for something, though Alex didn't know what. "It's something I myself think is personal, and I'd think you probably would too," she answered, drawing a deep breath. "It's something that should stay between us. It's nothing bad or anything like that. I'm not mad, or hurt or anything. I just think it's something for us between us. I'm curious, for one thing, and I'm wondering if there's something wrong and you're just not saying anything?"

Alex didn't say anything, though her face was indecipherable, since there seemed to be so many things running through her mind, so Kara forged on, "You don't really like Den An much, do you?" She paused, letting the question sink in, trying to get some hint of what was going on inside Alex's head by watching her eyes.

 _Now that was completely and totally out of left field,_ thought Alex as her thoughts raced through her head, trying to connect some sort of logic to the question and coming up empty. _Okay, Alex, how are we going to answer this one in a way that makes sense, not just to Kara, but to yourself as well? Talk about being blindsided._

She stared at her younger adoptive sister for a moment, then cleared her throat a couple of times, and found her eyes bouncing around the room for a moment before finally settling back on Kara. "What do you mean?" she asked, with her voice rising a little higher in pitch than it normally would. "He's okay, there's nothing wrong with him. He's Ner An's older brother, and he's a nice guy, cute, polite, all of that. I don't know…I'm just not really into him, I guess. It's nothing he's said or done, we just don't click, at least not on my end. I don't want to hurt his feelings and tell him that, though. He's just not attractive to me… not romantically, I mean."

She was growing flustered, and worse, she knew that Kara knew she was. She knew her well enough by now to be able to tell that easily. Before Kara could comment, she kept going, "I know you really like Ner An, and you guys like it when Den An and I double date with you. It's just…you know…I'm not into him like you are into Ner An. Does that make sense?" She was hoping and praying that it did. She wasn't sure if she could explain any further without making a complete mess of it.

"I've only been out with him once or maybe twice when you weren't with me," Kara said, watching Alex intently, wearing an expression of concern on her face once more. "I like it a lot better when it's you and me together with them. I always thought we had a great time. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel like you _had_ to go out with him just because I was going out with Ner."

"Oh, I know, Kara, I know and you didn't make me feel like that," Alex replied, still trying to work the whole rest of the conversation out in her mind, and not succeeding very well. "Like I said, there's nothing wrong with him, he's a wonderful and sweet guy. Hell, he's probably the sweetest guy I've ever dated in my life. He's just not…I'm just not feeling the same sort of connection with him that you feel with Ner."

Silence loomed over the two for a few moments, and Kara was studying Alex like she was some exotic one celled creature under a microscope, it felt like to Alex. Finally, she pushed her brows together, and that little crease between her eyes appeared, and she gripped Alex's hands tighter for just a moment. "What is it that you're trying to tell me, but you're not telling me, Alex? Whatever it is, it's okay, I promise. We can talk to each other about _anything_ can't we? I think we can. Do you?"

Alex stared up into Kara's eyes for a moment, while her mind raced trying to figure out some way to explain the huge jumbled mess her mind was at that moment. Finally, she released Kara's hands, and stood up, and started pacing, with her hand nervously going back through her hair repeatedly. She could feel herself shaking with nervous energy and a little dread.

"Yes, I do. Of course I do, Kara," she answered, as her voice grew as shaky as she felt. She said nothing for a few seconds as she paced, and then stopped, looking directly at Kara again. "Okay, okay, here goes…um, you remember when I talked about my friends and stuff back on Earth, right? The people I hung out with, and spent a lot of time around I mean?"

Kara nodded to let her know that she was following so far, staying quiet so as not to derail Alex's train of thought. However, she was wondering what Alex was leading up to. She'd talked a lot about her friends, about life in general on Earth, and how it was so different than it was there on Krypton.

Alex felt a tiny bit of relief, even as a cold rivulet of sweat rolled down her spine. "Okay, great, that's great. Then you um, you remember me talking about one of my best friends, right? Vicki Donahue? The girl that I was insanely close to and we had some stupid argument and drifted apart?" Alex's tone kept rising and falling, and Kara could swear her voice even cracked a couple of times as well.

When Kara nodded again, and remained silent still, Alex started pacing again, but kept casting glances back at Kara. "Okay, so um, uh…I'm sorry, I'm trying to figure out how to explain this, hell, I'm trying to explain it to _me_ but anyway, I'm getting off track," she said, the nervous tension rising in her, the tension so strong Kara felt she could reach out and grab it.

"We were almost inseparable. I used to go to her house, and spend the night with her, a _lot._ Like every chance I got, I mean. I _loved_ staying at her house, goofing around with her in her room, watching TV or listening to music…everything," she continued as her thoughts grew more erratic.

After a long pause, she stopped, and caught Kara's eyes again. "I loved sleeping there…sleeping with _her_ …sleeping with her, in her bed…" Alex trailed off quietly, as she watched Kara's face, hoping for some sign, _any_ sign that said Kara understood her, understood what she meant, and wasn't going to freak out on her about the whole thing.

It was obvious from the panicked look on Alex's face that she was going to have some sort of break if Kara didn't say something, and quick. "Okay…so you liked sleeping at her house and in her bed with her?" she asked, trying to keep the tone as soft and calm as possible. "You guys were close, so you felt better being closer to her, you felt comfortable, connected. You and I do that. There's nothing wrong with that."

Alex's head shook almost violently side to side, it was moving so fast. "No, no, not like that. This was an _entirely_ different feeling," she said in a rush, trying to calm down but not having a lot of luck. "This was…it was…I loved how she smelled, right after her shower. I loved how her hair always smelled like strawberries or cherry blossoms. I loved how soft and warm her skin was when our skin would touch…I loved it like I love…"

Kara's face was still confused. _Don't they have same sex relationships on this planet?_ Alex screamed into her own mind in agonized frustration. Suddenly, she felt like ice on the inside, and she shook her head. "No…you know what? I don't want to talk about it anymore. Just forget I even opened my mouth."

Alex ran both hands back through her hair and started to walk off, highly agitated. She wasn't angry with Kara, but herself. She couldn't believe she'd even said anything about this to begin with, let alone now and to Kara.

Before she could take more than a step, though, Kara had her arm in a gentle grip and was tugging her gently around. "Alex, wait…please?" she asked. Her face was soft, gentle, and full of compassion and sympathy. They'd never had a moment when Kara felt like Alex couldn't talk to her. She saw the tears trying to form in Alex's eyes, tears she probably hadn't even realized were there yet. In that instant, she knew that this was very hard for Alex, and that she was feeling very much alone. Kara couldn't let her feel that way, not ever.

Alex stopped and closed her eyes, her face rising towards the ceiling and Kara tugged her back to the couch. "Come on, sit with me. _Talk_ to me, please? I'm not sure I totally understand, and maybe I've got it all wrong, but let me ask this okay?" she asked, intertwining her fingers with Alex's once more and holding her close to her in a gentle embrace. "You're saying you…had feelings for this Vicki girl? Feelings like you _liked_ her liked her? You know…like Mother and Father feel for each other? Not just friendship or kinship of some sort?"

Alex closed her eyes again, and nodded against Kara's shoulder. The Kryptonian's hair was next to her face, and Alex could smell the sweet fruity scent of her hair, the cool, soft scent of her skin, and the smell of her clothes, fresh and soft like a summer breeze. "No, you haven't got it wrong at all. That's it, that's exactly what I mean. I never…it wasn't illegal or anything, but it wasn't the most commonplace thing in our society to have romantic feelings for someone of the same sex. Though it was somewhat commonly accepted in theory, in practice it wasn't as widely accepted. There was still some stigma, and fear, associated with it. Though, in our defense, our society was learning to be more open with such things. There were just always those that just couldn't get past outdated thinking."

Kara wrapped Alex in her arms and rocked her gently, stroking her hair with light strokes the whole time. "Oh, Rao, I'm so sorry, Alex," she whispered against Alex's cheek. "It's not frowned upon here, but admittedly, it's not always readily accepted with open arms, either. Most people don't mind at all, one way or the other; they're generally supportive of such things, they feel that everyone should be free to feel what they feel for whoever they feel it for. But there are sometimes those that consider it wrong, or wicked, or whatever. Thank Rao they're very few and far in between." She was hoping that Alex would wind down and grow calmer if she held onto her, gave her a solid, real sense of being anchored.

"It doesn't matter to me what any of them think, Kara," she whispered back softly, trying not to let her nose run on Kara's top or in her hair. That would be _truly_ embarrassing. "It only matters to me what _you_ think, what your family thinks. The rest of the world can be damned."

The girls sat embracing in silence for long moments, and finally, Kara said, "Well, I guess that explains what you meant by you weren't attracted to Den like that. But as for what we think, we love you, Alex, just as you are, no matter what you feel, or who you love. You are accepted, each and every teeny tiny little part of you. No matter what, it'll always be that way."

"Thank you," replied Alex, who was no longer shivering as much. Instead of being a constant thing, it was only a moment here and there that the tremors found their way to the surface. She was starting to calm down some, and that was a relief to both girls.

"So," said Kara, sounding a bit more upbeat. She was hoping that Alex would feel more upbeat too if she approached it that way. "If you're not attracted to Den, is there someone that you _are_ attracted to? Someone that makes you feel like the universe couldn't possibly hold you because you're so free? I hope so, or if there's not, I hope someone that does make you feel that way comes along soon, very soon. You deserve to be happy, Alex, and no matter what makes you happy, if it does, we'll be happy with you and for you."

Alex sniffled and raised her head, and wiped at her eyes and nose with a soft cloth she kept on her. Once she had herself somewhat clear, she shrugged. "That's just it, I don't know," she answered. "There are maybe a couple of people, people we know. I'm not sure. I haven't let myself really think about it much. But if you think it could happen, that they'd accept it instead of push me away, I may start thinking about it more, and try to figure out what exactly I do feel."

Kara smiled, and kissed Alex's forehead. "I think anybody, and I do mean _anybody,_ male or female, would be both lucky and honored to have your affections, Alex Zor El, or Alex Danvers, whichever you prefer. I'm here for you, no matter what, so let it worry about itself, and in the meantime, enjoy yourself and live your life as you feel it."

In the background, the news broadcast continued. The news had been so ordinary and dull, neither girl had been paying any attention to it, especially embroiled in the conversation they'd been having. However, as they held each other, Alex turned towards the screen and frowned.

"Kara, how do the Supreme Council members get to the meeting chamber in the Central Council Complex? Do they all go together after meeting up in a place on land, or do they just take individual skimmers and such out there?" Alex asked, the frown still in place.

Kara paused, and glanced up at Alex again, tilting her head, "They take personal vehicles to a travel station on the coast, which provides a passenger air ship out to the Complex. Individual skimmers aren't allowed out there, except for peace keeper and Sagitari patrols. Why do you ask?"

Alex's face paled a moment, and then she hurriedly got up and pulled Kara to her feet. "I think I know what the terrorists' next attack is going to be, and what they're going to do. God I hope I'm wrong. Grab something to wrap up in, quickly. We've got to get moving!" she urged Kara even as she finished dressing herself where she'd scaled down for relaxing in the house earlier.


	13. Chapter 13

_**Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Earth**_

 **Chapter 13**

"What is it, Alex? What do you think is going to happen?" asked Kara, who was firmly and carefully held close by Alex's arm as they flew at incredible speed over the Kryptonian landscape. Their destination was the travel station that the passenger vehicle that would carry the Council entourage out to the Central Council Complex, far out into the ocean. The wind caught most of her tone, but what Alex could catch was concerned, almost to the point of fear.

The land and air sped past them so fast that it was barely even a blur. Kara's vision could only pick up vague color striations that looked almost stationary beneath and around them at the speed at which they were flying. Several sonic booms had heralded their departure from Argo City as they left the dome over the city.

Alex's expression was serious, determined, almost to the point of being grim. "I think they're going to attack the transport ship before it gets to the Complex, maybe after it gets close, I'm not sure. I'm just positive that the transport ship is in extreme danger, and that the Council themselves most certainly are. It's just too convenient, considering the protocols for approaching the Complex," she said with a quiet, almost dark tone. "The Council is going to be attacked somehow, somewhere, I'm sure of that much. Everything else to now has been a distraction and misdirection."

Kara considered the pattern, which had seemed either random, or geared towards some small, but specific, goal that the thought of the attacks leading up to an attack on the Council had never really occurred to her. "Okay, I see what you're getting at," said Kara as they suddenly banked and rose a fair distance as they continued forward. She was glad she'd taken Alex's advice and dressed warmly. "But why attack the _Council?_ What purpose could it actually serve? Surely they could accomplish whatever goal it is they have by continuing their previous attacks, why involve the Council?"

The mists cleared from the water and the nearby ice on the coast around it, and the dark bulk of the transport was visible suddenly. "Think about it," answered Alex, flying even faster than she had been moments ago. "The news has been trying to gloss over and downplay this from the beginning, but the whole flashpoint for this terrorist activity has been over the alien issue, aliens being allowed planet side instead of being made to stay off Krypton. They're attacking the Council because they're the ones responsible for the aliens being allowed to come to the planet, and they want to take over so they can control the government with their xenophobic ideals."

Kara's jaw dropped in incredulity as what Alex was saying registered in her mind. "That's _madness!"_ exclaimed Kara as they slowed down enough to approach the transport, and still not alert the Sagitari escorts. "They'd need a _massive_ amount of support to do something like that. Even if they managed to somehow get to the Council through stealth and subterfuge, there's no way they'd _ever_ keep the Sagitari from taking them down before they could get off the first blaster shot."

Alex had reached a rear port on the transport, an area where there were no passengers close by, and forced it open without extensively damaging it. Once it was open, she landed, and set Kara down on her feet once more. They'd managed to slip in past the escorts because of their watch pattern, and the fact they wouldn't be expecting something as small as two people to try to slip past. Then, of course, there was the fact that they would have trouble believing a person could fly unaided. _Boy, won't they be surprised?_

"That's just it," replied Alex, still standing near the door. "If some of the Sagitari, probably a _lot_ of them are sympathetic to the terrorists' position, or are part of the movement to begin with, they won't _have_ to worry about being taken down. They'll have plenty of protection. I think this whole anti alien thing goes a lot further up than a bunch of pissed off citizens."

As Kara let that filter its way into her mind, her face grew pale at the thought. She couldn't imagine such hate, such violence, permeating so much of Kryptonian society, and its leadership. It was so foreign to Kara's thoughts that she was having immense trouble even imagining something like that, but as seconds ticked by she found it more and more plausible. The terrors that had been shown on the news, even as censored as it had been, had been so strong and forceful that something on this order didn't seem nearly as outrageous as she'd originally thought.

Alex took her hand, and pushed a mobile communications device she'd picked up from the cabinet before they'd left into Kara's hand. "Be careful, stay out of sight, and try not to let anyone see or hear you. If you see or hear something, or have a gut feeling, I don't care how small, let me know. If you get spotted or run into any other trouble, call me _immediately,_ okay? Speak English so they can't understand, and they can try and figure out what happened later, if it even registers," she said quietly, keeping an ear out for any sound that suggested they were about to be intruded upon.

Kara nodded, taking the device and putting it in place. "What about you?" she asked, glancing towards the door left currently ajar, and back to her sister. "Where are you going to be? You're not coming with me?" She could feel beads of cold sweat forming on her skin at the very thought that she'd be on the transport, and separated from Alex, in the middle of who knew what kind of danger.

Alex shook her head softly and gave Kara's hand a squeeze. "No, I _can't_ go with you, even though I don't want to let you out of my sight," she said, giving her a quick hug. "If they see me, see my face, and what I'm going to have to do, they'll know I'm an alien, and if they figure that out and who I am, they'll connect me to you, Alura and Zor. If that happens, then you guys are going to be in a huge shit storm, and I don't want to see that happen."

That was logic that Kara couldn't argue with, and she knew it. "Just be careful, okay?" she asked, finally. Impulsively, she gave Alex another hug and starting shooing her out the door. "Whatever it is you have to do, do it, and don't get hurt in the process. You're my sister, and I both need and want you to be in my life for a very long time."

Alex hugged her back, and tried to smile as if it was going to be a walk in the park. "Deal," she said flippantly, trying to assuage Kara's fears, and keep her from thinking about her own. "I'll see you shortly, after these asshats have been dealt with." With that, she turned and stepped out of the transport into the air, hovered a moment, and then shot away rapidly.

Kara watched her until she couldn't see her anymore, and then closed the port door, and took several deep breaths. As much as she trusted Alex, she wasn't too sure that things would go as easily as she seemed to think they would. "Come on, Alex," she whispered to herself softly, as she turned towards the exit to the cabin she was in. "The sooner this is over with, the easier I can breathe."

X

Chaos reigned on board the transport ship. Main power was out, and emergency power had kicked in, but the ship was currently suspended motionless in the cone of tractor beams generated from several Sagitari transport vessels. The pilots of the ship were powerless to get the vessel moving again, and so it was going nowhere quite quickly.

Through the corridors and cabins, squads of Sagitari marched and searched, rounding up people as they went into the main common chamber of the ship. From her hiding place, Kara had managed to elude detection thus far, but she wasn't sure how much longer that was going to last. Thankfully the ship was built complexly enough that there were small windows of time when she could slip undetected into a nook or cranny, and observe unnoticed. There had been a couple of close calls, but for the moment, she was successfully sneaking around, with the Sagitari completely oblivious to her presence.

As she peeked around a corner, she saw several people she knew, a couple of which served on the Supreme Council, as well as her parents, being herded towards the main common chamber. Kara's fist clenched and loosened a couple of times as her mind raced, trying to come up with some plan to free them. She didn't dare communicate with Alex at the moment, because with all the scanning equipment the Sagitari had in hand, they'd most certainly detect her voice, her transmission, or both.

"What's the meaning of this?" Zor El's voice rang out in the corridor as he, and the others, were being roughly escorted. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Do you realize where you are, and who you're treating like livestock, forcing us down these corridors? Do you—"

Kara's father was abruptly interrupted by a thud and a low, menacing voice from a Sagitari Lieutenant, "We know _exactly_ where we are, and who you are, Zor El. We're aboard the Supreme Council transport vessel, and we're rounding up all you alien loving scum exactly like livestock headed for the processing center, exactly as our orders direct us to do." The Lieutenant shoved him back against the wall again, held Zor El there for a moment, then grabbed his shoulder and pushed him forward. "So, get moving like a good little grazer."

Kara's blood boiled at the treatment of her parents and the others. The temptation to come out of hiding to confront the Sagitari and let that anger free was very strong, but she was calm enough to realize that doing so wouldn't end well for her, or anyone else. There were too many of them, and too many blasters, for that to even be an option at that point. That sort of end would be ugly, and she wasn't about to jeopardize her parents' safety, or that of the others.

Meanwhile, Alura whirled towards the Lieutenant as she caught Zor El in her arms, and glared at him. "Then you also know who _I_ am, Lieutenant," she said in a voice colder than Kara had ever heard her speak in. "Who's giving you these orders? Who's the mighty and powerful brave soul orchestrating all this, but yet is too scared to reveal their identity? And you expect us to take them, or you, seriously?" She had her suspicions of course, but she wasn't about to give anything away that she didn't have to.

Before the Lieutenant could reply, every screen on the ship lit up, flickered several times, and then cleared. The view was a view of the ship from outside, showing the vista of what exactly was happening outside the ship. It flickered again, and on the screen was an imposing figure, with dark hair, a thin goatee surrounding his mouth and chin, and hard, cruel eyes that seemed to radiate both hate and aggression.

The face moved closer to the optical receptor, and he paused for a long, dramatic moment. "Attention esteemed members of the Supreme Council, and the Guild Representatives, as well as our other distinguished…'guests.' In the unlikely event that you don't know I am, allow me to introduce myself. I am General Dru Zod, and as of this moment, I am _the_ government of Krypton. The Supreme Council, the Guild Councils, _all_ Councils cease to exist in this moment. From this moment on, you will kneel, and pledge your fealty to Zod," he said, his voice ringing in narcissistic arrogance.

Kara could imagine a collective gasp of disbelief and incredulity all over the ship, and probably the entire planet, as the madman stated his preposterous claim. There was a silence, presumably so Zod could allow his words to sink in, past the disbelief that must enshroud everyone's mind.

"If you doubt my absolute authority, and ability to provide tangible proof of my words," Zod continued, his eyes narrowing even further. "Then I suppose you shall have to see for yourselves. Legions of Sagitari, in every city state, are loyal to _me,_ General Zod. They cannot be swayed, they cannot be convinced, and they cannot be appealed to. They follow my orders, and my orders alone."

The screens flickered again, showing scenes of Sagitari rounding up aliens, and alien sympathizers alike, and arresting government officials, and peace keepers in every city state on the planet. The fright was evident on the faces of the people in the footage, and even the slightest bit of noncompliance was earning the offenders severe beatings, and worse, all on the screens.

"My rule is the dawn of a New Order. The days of pandering and sympathizing with the alien trash that come to infect and infest Krypton are over," Zod continued, starting to pace slowly back and forth, his holographic projection mirroring this movement. "For too long, the powers that be on Krypton have been useless, weak, sniveling abominations of Kryptonians. They have allowed these inferior, parasitic aliens to come to our world, benefit from our resources and technology, plunder our knowledge, and subtly subvert those in power to _their_ whims, and of course their 'needs.' Neither I, nor my loyal followers, will allow such a travesty to continue any further. The time of the hordes of aliens is at an end. This is the time of the Kryptonians."

Zod paused once again, while his holographic projection stared disdainfully at those he addressed. On board the transport, there was loud murmuring, as the prisoners all expressed their shock and disbelief, and broke into chaotic conversations, impossible to follow individually from where Kara hid. After a few moments, the Sagitari began aggressively focusing their attention back on the crazed Kryptonian declaring himself the absolute monarch of Krypton, even if not in so many words.

Zod continued his face and voice becoming more maniacal the more he spoke, "Those that swear fealty and allegiance to me will enjoy freedom from the alien infestation, and a better and more fulfilling life, under the generous blanket of Kryptonian protection. They will know a peace and purity of life that hasn't been seen on Krypton for centuries. Krypton will belong to me, and as such, belong to Krypton, not some derelict alien species determined to take what we have and as a result destroy what it means to be Kryptonian."

Once more, the madman paused, letting his words sink in to those listening. Kara thought it was obvious that he was well accustomed to using dramatic speech and behavior to give the illusion of righteousness and truth, even if it were nothing but lies and hate speech. "There was a reason that our ancestors closed Krypton off from the rest of the universe, closed us off so completely that over time they forgot aliens even existed," the General thundered along as he paced. "They knew, they _knew_ the threat aliens represented, and the impurity and infection that they polluted Krypton with. In those days, the Supreme Council was exactly that: supreme. Now, it is a sniveling, kowtowing body, all too eager to let the aliens simply take what they want, and believe it was the Council's own idea.

"Thus, that is why the Supreme Council no longer governs this planet. _I_ do, Zod, absolute authority of Krypton. Under my rule, you will suffer not the indignities the aliens bring to our people and our world. Krypton is for Kryptonians once more," finished Zod for the time being, letting all he had said filter through to the minds of all listening.

"But, let it not be said that Zod is unfair, or cruel," he said with a sick smile, and a conspiratorial little wave of his finger. "In light of my generosity and magnanimous nature, all aliens on Krypton, in orbit about it, or within the Rao system have precisely two hours to gather their belongings, their fellow aliens, and leave the system entirely, and I will stay any action against them for that time. Once that time is up, any alien found within the Rao system, on Krypton or not, will be purged and expunged. Krypton _will_ be pure once more!"

The followers that stood physically with Zod at that moment cheered and three figures came to his side. Once the light revealed their faces, Kara could see them all. The females' faces were vaguely familiar, two fanatical sisters, Faora and Ursa Hu Ul, each well known for their viciousness and ruthlessness as Commanders of Sagitari regiments. The third, a male, was very familiar to Kara. It was Non, Astra's husband, that stood beside Zod. He and the two sisters all wore the insignia of Lieutenant Generals, placing them in power one level below Zod's declared rank.

 _Come on, Alex, where are you? Surely you're seeing this too. You've got to do something. You've got to. If you don't, Krypton is going to fall to this…what did you call them? Asshats? Krypton will fall to this asshat. We can't let that happen!_ thought Kara almost desperately as she looked around, searching for some way, _any_ way to help her parents, and help Alex.

X

Alex flew from skimmer to skimmer, looking for any sign of what could be terrorist equipment or activity. Everything _seemed_ clean and on the up and up, but she wasn't buying it. The human was sure that there was something somewhere. That there was something she was missing, somehow. She moved fast, and stayed out of sight, so she could do her searches without interruption or detection.

Just when she was beginning to think that maybe she'd been wrong after all, the transport went still and dark, as if the power went out. The skimmers all combined their tractor beams together to keep it airborne and stationary, but while it saved the transport from crashing to the ground, it also kept it from moving at all. Her gut started screaming again, her instincts telling her this was it, this was definitely the beginning of the insanity she was sure would follow.

Holograms started popping up, inside the ship, and even outside it. She could see more of them towards the city below them, and imagined there were more all over. Alex watched and listened for a few moments, as the madman talked, and introduced himself. She'd heard his name mentioned several times over the years, and it was usually said with a sour tone by those in her family. They'd described him as being too ambitious, cruel, and narcissistic and megalomaniacal. From what she was seeing and hearing, those were understatements.

"This guy is fucking nuts," muttered Alex under her breath as she hovered out of sight close to a skimmer, listening to the prattling speech Zod was giving. "He's like a Kryptonian Hitler or something."

After a few moments of careful watching, it was obvious that most, if not all, the Sagitari on duty on this particular event were working for Zod. Further, if that were true, then it wasn't a huge leap of logic to realize that there had to be something bad happening on board the transport. Zod talked as if they'd all been rounded up in one place, most likely as captives. Kara, Alura, and Zor were all on that transport, and that meant they were in danger. She had to do something, and do it _fast,_ that was all she knew.

She laid her hand on the body of the skimmer she hovered next to and felt the energy crackling through it, the energy produced by the engines and supplied by its power core. Alex could feel her body absorbing that energy, and the generous boost it gave her. She already knew she absorbed and stored ambient energy in a myriad of forms passively, but she had discovered being able to "supercharge" herself during experiments with Zor and Jor. She didn't really need to absorb that energy directly, but she had no idea of what she'd be facing, and how badly it would tax her, so she felt it to be better safe than sorry.

Alex looked around, thinking fast. She had to find some way to conceal who she was, or at the very least make it hard as hell for her to be identified. She just had no idea how she was going to accomplish that. She'd already changed into nondescript black pants and top, with no family insignia of any kind on it, so that kept the House of El coat of arms from giving her away, but that didn't address the problem of her face. Alex had to find a way to conceal that.

The door she'd gone through to put Kara on the transport opened, and a Sagitari was in the doorway, looking out. As far as she could tell, the Sagitari was about to report the door being forcibly opened, and that would definitely trigger the need for a search, she was sure. She couldn't let that happen, especially since she had no way of knowing whether or not Kara had already been spotted or captured.

Alex took a deep breath and shot towards the door at impossible speeds, crossing the distance in less time than it took to register the thought. She flew in the door, and grabbed the Sagitari, striking them in the head hard enough to bounce their skull off the side of their helmet, and render them unconscious. The Sagitari went limp and slid to the floor, out cold. The helmet was the type that covered the entire head, and had a full face plate that could be opened or closed, but the material that covered the face was one way. She could see out, but no one could see her face from outside.

She slid the helmet off the Sagitari after releasing it from its connections to the power core of the armor it was part of. Under the helmet was an attractive woman, sleeping like a baby. She couldn't imagine what would make someone, especially someone as young and kind looking as the Sagitari side with Zod, but whatever it was, she had. It was too bad, really. She looked more like a school science class lab partner than a rabid follower of some nutcase with delusions of godhood or a savior complex. With a wry smile, Alex slid the helmet on, and made sure its operation was working and secure.

"Sorry, babe, but I need this more than you do right now," she murmured as she checked her reflection in a small mirror on the wall. The faceplate would offer no hint of the face that lay beneath it. She toyed with some of the settings, and found that the voice amplifier also had a function to distort her voice, and that it didn't need the armor to work. "Perfect."

After securing the Sagitari and gagging her, Alex hid her in a small alcove with a door, and headed into the main body of the transport. She paused, listening a moment, and heard movement in the compartment next to where she was then. With care, she started walking as silently as she could, trying to reach a point where she could poke her head around the corner and get a look at who it was, and what they were doing.

Without warning, a voice rang out from behind her, modulated by the type of voice amplifier that she was wearing herself. "You there! Place your hands on your head, and get on your knees. Don't make any sudden moves, or I'll be forced to shoot," the Sagitari said. From the sound of his voice, it was clear to Alex that he was very accustomed to being obeyed immediately, and rarely had to encourage compliance.

Alex smiled a bit behind the faceplate, and turned to face the Sagitari. She neither raised her hands to her head, nor did she sink to her knees. "Go ahead, shoot me. It could be amusing," she said, unable to keep the hint of laughter out of her voice. She'd endured endless experiments on her powers, how they worked, what she could do, and what the possible applications of her abilities might be with Jor and Zor, so she was confident this would be just like those tests.

Alex could see by the way he reacted, she was right. He wasn't used to being defied, that was obvious. His stance immediately got more aggressive, and his weapon came up, the end exploding in a bright flash of light as a beam of energy and force lanced towards her, and struck her in the chest. The blast left a rather large, and smelly, burn mark on her shirt, but that was all. The energy crackled around her and was absorbed by her body, giving her the rush of sensation rocketing up her spine.

The Sagitari had to have been blinking beneath his faceplate, Alex thought, and he fumbled with his weapon, checking his power setting, and trying to take aim again. Before he could, Alex's hand came up and with a flash of light and color energy blasted from her hand and struck the sidearm. The whole weapon glowed a moment and then started melting. It was hot enough to burn, but not to actually harm the unfortunate Sagitari. He exclaimed wordlessly in alarm, and with her other hand, Alex zapped him with a slight concentrated burst of bioelectric energy, and rendered him unconscious.

As his body slumped to the floor with a less than graceful thud, she double checked him, and then went back to slipping around. It was almost impossible to take a step without something making noise due to the change in weight and pressure, so she willed herself upwards, to hover a few inches above the floor, and moved around through the air. _Much better, and much quieter,_ she thought wryly. _And much, much cooler!_

X

 _Come on, Alex! Where_ _ **are**_ _you?_ thought Kara loudly in her own mind as she dodged around a couch as a Sagitari passed through the room adjacent to the main common chamber. She breathed a sigh of relief as she seemed to escape detection. The Sagitari continued on their way without so much as even hesitating at the door.

Kara waited a full minute, and then started slowly creeping out from behind the couch. She kept her body coiled, and low, so she was ready to take off if necessary, if someone saw her. Just as she got clear of the furniture, the Sagitari that had passed through came back in, and lifted their weapon. Wide eyed, Kara reacted.

The young Kryptonian whirled and started to run, only to come face to face with another Sagitari, a bigger one. His hand grabbed and wrapped around her upper arm, and there was a contemptuous and dark chuckle that escaped from beneath his faceplate. "Finally, we caught her," the larger Sagitari said to the smaller one, while holding onto Kara's arm firmly, which kept her balanced on her toes.

"Yeah, Lieutenant General Non will be pleased," the smaller one said, with a voice like a serpent. He looked at her top and sneered. "It's the El kid all right, just like he predicted. I wonder if the other one is still crawling around somewhere."

The larger one laughed, and shrugged. "If she is, we'll find her too. I'm sure Zor El and Alura will be a little more willing to bend with compressed light blasters pointed at this little beauty's head," he said in a voice so oily it made Kara's flesh crawl as much as the words he said had.

Roughly, the larger one dragged her by the arm as the two of them "escorted" her to the main common chamber. When the door opened, the room was filled with the entire Supreme Council, several of the Guild Representatives and Advisors, and various assistants and attendants. Every head in the room looked up when she was dragged into the room.

"Kara!" exclaimed Alura and Zor El at the same time as their daughter was unceremoniously dragged into the room, and then flung towards where they sat. It was all Kara could do to keep enough balance to cushion her landing so she didn't hurt herself when the Sagitari roughly shoved her in that direction.

"Are you okay, sweetheart?" asked Alura quickly and quietly. Her shaking hands ran over Kara's hair and face gently as she looked her daughter over. "What in the name of Rao were you thinking?" she hissed, trying to keep from being overheard.

Kara didn't protest to her mother's touch and let her confirm for herself that Kara was all right. "Yeah," she answered quietly. "I'm fine. They just dragged me and tossed me around a little, and mostly just tried to scare me. I've dealt with worse when I started school."

She lowered her voice even more, and whispered quietly as her head touched Alura's. "Alex is here too. I'm sure she'll be here any minute now." She looked up into her parents' eyes, the light of confidence and hope shining in them. Kara had unflinching and unfailing faith in Alex, and she _knew_ Alex would rescue them, that she wouldn't fail them.

 _The Jeweled Mountains should be so steady_ _as Kara's faith in Alex,_ thought Alura as she held Kara close to her and stroked her hair. Even so, she glanced at Zor El, who nodded very subtly to her. They each had similar faith in Alex, but it was Kara's unwavering assurance that Alex would save everyone that fed their own.


	14. Chapter 14

_**Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Earth**_

 **Chapter 14**

Astra stood on the platform outside the Supreme Council Chamber in the Central Council Complex with a grim expression. Zod had finally snapped, she thought. _He's mad. He truly thinks that he can fool the Kryptonian people with that "anti alien" propaganda crap, when all he's_ _ **really**_ _after is power. He wants to rule Krypton, and gather as much power as he possibly can. He just happens to hate aliens, which makes it a perfect excuse to stage a coup on the planetary government and declare himself king, or emperor, or whatever title he fancies today._

She couldn't believe how easy it was to fan a tiny spark within the public consciousness to a roaring flame, and convince the populace of pretty much anything you say, because of twisted ambition, and shifting the "threat" from one thing that opposes them to the next. By then, the gullible sheep that lived within the general population would be so wrapped up in the other stuff that'd been said that they would eagerly follow them blindly, without realizing where the path they were following led, or what it would ultimately mean. She'd always liked to think that Krypton and her people were stronger than that, more possessed of a common sense and questioning mind. It was painfully apparent that while most Kryptonians were, there were plenty of those that weren't.

Since Zod's little talk had been displayed, the transport hadn't moved, and she knew without question that Zod's troops were in full force on board it, and had hostages, plenty of them, including her sister and her husband. She was determined to rescue those hostages, whether Alura and Zor were aboard or not. Jor and Lara were probably aboard as well, since Jor was also an important leader within the Science Guild. Her main concern was for all the hostages, regardless of who they were, but the fact she had family on that ship as well only increased her resolve.

Astra knew Non would side with Zod. She'd known it since the first rumblings of Zod's little power plays he made started years ago, after he hit the upper echelons of military rank. Non was just as ambitious and just as twisted and power hungry as Zod, so they were certain to gravitate towards one another. The fact they forged a powerful friendship, if either of them were capable of having what would actually qualify as friends, was just one more confirmation of what was to come, and now, after many years, it had finally manifested, as she always predicted.

The only reason Zod had been tolerated at all was because of his House's long standing reputation for honor, and for producing some of the greatest military leaders in Krypton's history. If he had been evaluated on his own merits, rather than the historical ones of his House, he would most likely have never made it into the Sagitari, and certainly wouldn't have risen above Lieutenant, if he had even made it that far. If it had been up to her, personally, he would never have been admitted into the Military Guild to begin with, but unfortunately, that decision hadn't rested in her hands, so there they were in the situation they presently found themselves in.

As Astra stood, lost in thought, but also formulating several plans for how to handle different circumstances with the situation, a Corporal approached her and stood at attention, but waited silently for her acknowledgement. General Astra was well known for not liking being disturbed as she anticipated actions and made plans to compensate for them. The woman was fiercely devoted to her responsibilities and the role she played in Kryptonian society, not to mention the Sagitari itself, but even so, she was fair and just, even if she could be somewhat abrasive and harsh if you displeased her.

The Corporal didn't have to wait long. While her eyes remained on the distant transport, her mind tumbling through scenario after scenario, she responded in a quiet voice, "What is it, Corporal? Report." Her hands tightened only slightly on the rail she leaned upon.

The Corporal blinked a couple of times, with his helmet held under his arm, surprised that she had acknowledged him so quickly. "Ma'am, the team has discovered that the rear emergency hatch had been forced open from the outside _before_ we sent Lieutenant Re to the transport. Since she entered, no one has had any sort of communication with her, and no transmissions from her. She's missed her check in, and though we've assumed she has been able to infiltrate the squads loyal to Zod and his compatriots, there has been no contact beyond the reasonable delay point," the Corporal replied, keeping his voice respectfully calm and even.

Astra frowned, and her gaze on the transport intensified. Lieutenant Miri Zan Re was young, very young, yet she was an exemplary officer, entirely devoted to the service of Krypton and her people, and exceedingly loyal to her top commanding officer, Astra herself. She was the youngest commissioned officer the Sagitari had boasted in its ranks for nearly a millennium. _She's barely older than Kara, maybe the same age, give or take a couple of years, as Alex, but she's proven herself time and again to be many cuts above the average Sagitari in all respects, and therefore worthy of her fast tracked promotion. I have never questioned my decision to commission her and give her the rank she holds, and I'm not about to start now._

Astra's frown grew deeper as she diverted her eyes from the transport to regard the young man beside her. "You said the hatch had been forced open _before_ Re began her infiltration mission?" she asked, possibilities leaping into her mind one after the other. Could it be what she suspected? _Doesn't she know how dangerous this is, what kind of danger she's opening herself up for if she's discovered? Influenced by Zod or not, Krypton is largely xenophobic still, despite our best efforts to educate and inform the people at large. Please, Rao, let her do what you will to be done, but keep her safe from the certain harm she'd suffer if she's discovered,_ she thought as her hands released the bar she held onto.

The Corporal nodded animatedly. "Yes, Ma'am," he answered promptly. "Whoever beat us to the hatch isn't part of any of our platoon currently here, General." He was wondering what it could mean, himself, but he wasn't sure if he should voice that question or not. "And more, whoever it was managed to slip completely by every detection instrument we have in place. Absolutely nothing registered on any of them at any time, but that would mean it would have had to be an extremely tiny vehicle, only barely larger than the pilot themselves."

That confirmed Astra's theory, and she knew she had better put a lid on this, and quickly. She whipped her head around to face the Corporal more directly, and spoke in commanding, but quiet tones, "Listen to me _very_ carefully, Corporal. I don't intend to repeat myself. If anyone, and I mean _anyone_ catches sight of _anything_ unusual, they are _not_ to report it over open comms, and further, they are _not_ to discuss it with _anyone._ Let me stress that, _they are not to discuss or even mention it to anyone,_ I don't care _who_ asks. They are to come to me and me alone, _immediately and directly,_ and give _absolutely no_ information to _anyone_ that may question them along the way. This order is exact, final, and cannot and will not be rescinded, in part or whole, all on my _personal_ authorization and responsibility. I don't care if Rao himself steps down from the sky and demands information it is _not_ to be given. Am I understood?"

The Corporal was taken aback by both Astra's no nonsense tone, and the steely gaze she had when she gave the order. Everyone knew that when General Astra gave an order, you could consider it as if it were the Word of Rao, or face the absolutely undesirable consequences of your stupidity. The Corporal had absolutely no desire to face the woman's wrath should he disobey or misinterpret the order. If he ever decided to disobey one of her orders, this would _not_ be the one he chose, and he knew in his very soul that nothing short of the planet blowing up would make him disobey her orders.

"Y-yes Ma'am, General Astra, Ma'am," he replied right on the heel of the end of her sentence. "Is it safe to assume that this order is to be delivered individually to each person individually, Ma'am? That way no one is aware the order was given to anyone else, and it would discourage the urge to discuss it?" he asked, hoping he wasn't overstepping his position, and risking Astra's anger.

Astra smiled slowly, but the smile contained no humor to it. "It would be a safe assumption indeed, Corporal. You're learning a wise practice that will help you advance far in the Sagitari," she said quietly. Her mind was back to the situation on the transport, but Alex and what was almost certainly her doing, was also prominent. If she was going to help, and Astra had no doubt that was the case, especially with their family aboard, she hoped she had the sense to stay out of sight, and if she had to be seen, make sure no one could connect her to the House of El, or have a clue as to her identity.

Astra was pleased with the Corporal's responses and devotion to his duty and his commanding officer. _Perhaps he may find his place elevated soon as well,_ she thought. She decided to keep an eye on him, he'd impressed her. As disciplined as the typical Sagitari was, few of them would understand the need for such a specific and clandestine order without questioning it, even if they questioned it in their thoughts. Curiosity was admirable, but it wasn't necessarily so when it came to obeying unusual orders given by a commander that wasn't displaying any sort of erratic behavior as Zod was. Such curiosity should be dependent upon the behavior and possible mental state of those issuing the orders. Even someone that knew absolutely nothing about Zod would realize he was a madman just moments after encountering him.

"You're dismissed, Corporal. Follow your orders to the letter," she finally said, as she turned her attention back to the problems at hand. _Alex, whatever you're doing, please take care and be safe, so you can keep the others safe_ , she thought.

X

The world seemed fuzzy when Lieutenant Miri Zan Re regained consciousness. Everything was a hazy blur of colors and indistinct shapes, and her head felt like it'd had Fort Rozz dropped on it. She sat up slowly, and shook her head lightly, hoping to clear up her fuzzy vision and muddy thoughts.

The slightest movement made her head pulse with pain, but it seemed to be dissipating slowly as she returned to her senses. Finally, she made it to a sitting position, and looked around. Her weapon was nearby, apparently intact. That was a good thing, she thought as she picked it up and checked it for damage on a smaller scale. Finding none, she secured it, and frowned.

Her hand rose to her face, and she expected to feel her helmet even through her glove, but there was only her face. If she'd been fully aware and to herself, she would have noticed that her helmet was gone immediately, but her full awareness was returning sluggishly. Whatever happened, whatever hit her had hit hard, and very thoroughly incapacitated her. It was getting easier to think, and to move.

She pushed her thick black hair back from her face, and inspected her reflection in a mirrored tile on the wall, some sort of artful decoration she figured. Her face, with its round cheeks that made her look like she spent most of her time smiling, had no bruises, cuts or other injuries. There was only a small bruise forming at the very edge of her hairline over her right temple, and it was barely noticeable. Her eyes were bright, and not glassy. All that considered, she wasn't suffering from a concussion, it seemed. _Thank Rao for small mercies._

The memory of her assignment came back to her, and she looked around the chamber she was in, looking for anything that may be useful, or help her be more convincing in acting out her cover. Unfortunately, there wasn't much of anything in that particular chamber, useful or not. Since it was mostly an antechamber for an exit, it made sense that it'd be pretty much barren in the sense of décor.

She took particular notice of her helmet not being anywhere in the room. It shouldn't have found its way off her head, but for the sake of argument, if it had, it would logically be lying around somewhere in the room, she thought, but it was nowhere to be seen. And since it had no method of autonomous travel, that meant someone had to have taken it, she concluded. _This doesn't make any sense. If they needed a disguise, why only take the helmet and not my entire uniform? Sagitari don't walk around in civilian clothes and their helmet…unless the person that took it wasn't trying to pass themselves off as a Sagitari, but instead simply keep their identity a secret. That's the only logical conclusion. Now, the next question is why?_

Miri paused and listened intently for a couple of moments, trying to get a feel of what was going on around her before she just marched out of the chamber and into potential trouble. She stood as still as a statue for several moments, and then frowned.

 _No footsteps of Council guards, protection detail, Zod's crew, or anything else. Not even the chatter of Council members and Guild representatives. General Astra was right, Zod and his people are trying to stage a takeover, right now!_ These thoughts raced through her mind as she reaffirmed her grip on her weapon, and opened the door. She shifted back and forth at the door, making sure both ways were clear before she moved out of the room into the corridor.

Stealthily, she moved along the corridor, hyper vigilant for anyone or anything coming her way. _The ship's stationary, yet still airborne. There's no reason to keep it that way if they've already taken everybody off the ship. So, that means they're still on board, and if it were me, I'd move them into the central chamber. There's more room, and the doors are easier to secure, not to mention the fact that a smaller number of guards can hold the position with a forward facing arc of fire coverage, and a protected rear flank. Unfortunately, with the number of goons Zod has in his camp, that means there's probably generous amounts of patrols wandering the corridors looking for stragglers and making sure nobody else gets to the hostages without them being aware of it._

Armed with that assessment of the situation, Miri continued moving cautiously around the corridors. Sure enough, she found patrols walking a concentric overlapping pattern through the whole ship. That meant she was going to have to be very careful with any move she made, and when she made that move, she was going to have to be fast and decisive, with no hesitation. The General was waiting on her signal that she was in, and that she was at the breach point, but getting there was going to be a challenge. If the guards didn't find her, they were almost sure to be using trackers to detect unauthorized signals and transmissions. Miri didn't mind, she thrived on challenges.

X

Alex hovered near one of the skimmers out of sight, watching everything and trying to decide on how and where to make her move. She'd already figured out that in all likelihood, the hostages were in the central chamber of the transport. It made the most sense to her, anyway, and it also made it more problematic for any rescue team to get to them, because they'd have to fight layers of guards, which could easily deter any rescue attempt, given the firepower and manpower on either side.

 _Whatever you're going to do, Alex, you need to do it, and do it quick. Your family is in there, and Kara's in there, and they're in danger, just like everyone else in there. Every moment you wait is a moment this whacko son of a bitch can do something really shitty, and that's really going to weigh you down if you wait too long to stop him,_ Alex thought as she hovered. She had been cautious in her observations and planning, trying to think of a way to minimize potential danger to the hostages, especially Alura, Zor and Kara, but no matter how she approached it, there was going to be a decent margin for complications, no matter what.

Outside the transport, activity was increasing. More and more Sagitari were showing up, and it looked like the guards were not only switching out, but actually being beefed up. In addition, there were Sagitari showing up that were wearing different division colors than those that had been there all this time. That could mean they were the good guys, working with one of the other top brass, or it could simply be yet more flunkies for Zod. There was no way to know, short of asking, and that wasn't going to happen.

Finally, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. _Fuck this. I'm not losing another family, not now. I'm finally learning how to feel like I'm home, like I belong, like somebody gives a shit again. If they want to take that from me, they're going to have to fight, and that's a fight I don't see them winning, not today, not with this little orphan human girl,_ she thought with a surge of emotion. She took another deep breath, held it a moment, and let it out slowly, opening her eyes again once more to focus heavily on the hull of the transport. _Well, it's time to put all that geometry to work. After all, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line._

Alex slowly curled her fists closed, and with a loud crack as a sonic boom sounded over the ocean's waves, she hurtled towards the hull of the ship with no intention of changing course. The side of the ship rushed towards her as she rushed towards it, and barely half a second later, there was contact.

X

There were Sagitari every few feet around the perimeter of the main chamber, and the Council members, Guild representatives, and other officials were crowded in the center of the room, forced to sit on the floor as they endured dozens of weapons pointed at them, and each guard acting as if they were just itching to pull the trigger. They'd been told to be quiet, but there was still a soft murmur of sound from the clustered bunch of people, as they whispered back and forth.

Alura, Zor and Kara sat close to each other, huddled into their own little bunch within the larger lump of the crowd of hostages. They were doing as most were, trying to make sure they attracted as little attention as possible, so they would remain in relative safety, if there was such a thing in that situation.

Most of the more vocal hostages had attempted to persuade, convince, and outright frighten the Sagitari into disobeying their orders, and the insane man that gave them, and do what they knew was right. Unfortunately, they were insanely loyal to their corrupt and twisted leaders, and they believed that they were going to be part of the New Order in some position of esteem. The hostages all knew that wasn't going to happen, yet they remained convinced that it was. Changing a fanatic's mind was one of those nearly impossible tasks that life sometimes threw your way. So, one by one, they'd stopped trying to convince the Sagitari of the error of their beliefs, and tried to figure another way free of the terrible situation they found themselves in.

Kara had been looking around when she could do so without being yelled at, or worse. She'd seen her Uncle Jor and Aunt Lara in the crowd as well, but they were on the other side of the room, and it was too far to try to get their attention without also gaining the attention of the Sagitari guarding them. She thought about trying anyway, but decided to not tempt fate any more than she already had so far. Kal El didn't seem to be with them, not from what she could see anyway, so she figured he had to be at home with someone watching him. She thought that was good, at least. As much as she loved seeing him, she was glad he wasn't stuck in the middle of the political battleground they were in.

X

Miri rounded the corner to where one entrance to the main chamber of the transport, only to see a pair of guards at the door. They didn't see her so she jumped back out of sight. She wasn't sure what she was going to do, but she had to do something. She couldn't overpower all the guards herself, and there's no way she'd ever get off enough shots to take them all down before they took her down.

 _Okay, Miri, let's take a look at what we have,_ she thought as she leaned back against the wall. _If the patrols keep following the same pattern, those on this side of the ship should be moving away from this door, so that's one thing. The door ahead is closed, and most likely locked, so any help coming for these two would take a few seconds to reach us, by which time I should be able to drop both these guys and get ready. That's where the sticky part comes. I should have time to get ready to do what? Think, Miri, think!_

She kept going over scenarios in her mind, trying to figure out what would be most likely to have even a tiny percentage of working. There were more civilians than there were guards, so if they would all take advantage of things, they could work together to take the rogue Sagitari down.

 _But that presents a couple of problems,_ Miri thought in mild frustration. She knew she had to do something, but she was alone, with no way to call for backup, or even give a situation report to any of her unit. She was on her own. _First, there's no way to get word to them to get ready, or let them know what's going down to begin with. Second, even if I could, these people aren't trained to fight. The casualties would be much too high, and it'd be too risky to start with. If we could get the element of surprise would be the only way it'd even start to have a chance. Damn it to Rao, Miri, think!_

Finally, after a couple of moments, she let out a long breath. Setting her jaw in grim determination, she double checked her weapon's charge. _With luck, the General will have anticipated this, or at the very least see something and send in the cavalry. Either way, I'm about to make some noise!_

She kept her weapon at the ready, but deceptively as if prepared for having to take action against a straggler, like she was one of them. She started panting, as if she'd been running for some time. "You two! I came aboard for a status check, eyes on, and was ambushed by one of these spineless alien sympathizers, and they disappeared down the port side corridor. I want that little shit found!"

The two guards weren't expecting anyone to come down the corridor, so they were confused. The first one looked at his partner, and then back up at Miri. "Lieutenant, all sweeps for targets have come up negative. Everyone is accounted for and in the chamber. We can't leave the door, we have our orders," he said, still trying to make sense of what was happening.

Miri growled in what appeared to be frustration, and pointed at her head. "The alien lover smashed the face plate of my helmet, and attacked while I was occupied trying to get the helmet off. Obviously, everyone is _not_ accounted for on this ship! What do you think Lieutenant Generals Faora, Ursa and Non are going to say when they find out one slipped through your fingers? What do you think General Zod is going to do?" she asked.

It was obvious that the two guards were getting suspicious of Miri. Their entire body language changed, and suddenly became more menacing. They started lifting their weapons into firing position, and Miri smiled slightly. _I knew that whole gambit was lame. There was absolutely no way they were going to believe it because it was ridiculous, as I meant it to be. But it made a good distraction, got them unaware and off their rhythm,_ flashed through her mind.

Just as their weapons came up, Miri lifted her own weapon, and fired at the one on her left, striking him in the chest. His armor sizzled and he slid down the wall. The one on her right managed to get off a shot, but she'd already dropped, and spun right, coming down in a crouch on the left side of the hall, while his shot flashed over her head. As soon as she'd spun around where she could see him, she fired, and dropped him as well. Like his partner, he slid down the wall to the floor.

Both were unconscious and would be in quite a bit of pain from the level two blasts she hit them both with. She used their own manacles to restrain them, and tossed their weapons into a side room, and took their energy packs for extras. _They obviously didn't train under General Astra. If they had, there's no way they would have been taken out by such a simple maneuver. Their reaction time was absolutely lousy, too._

She made quick work of dragging them into the small side chamber that she'd thrown their weapons into, and then placed a breach charge on the door, set the timer, and quickly jumped into the room for cover.

X

Kara heard quiet sobbing, and she turned to see a young girl, maybe twelve years old, if that, curled up and frightened. Her parents had been pulled from where they were with her, and dragged to the other side of the room, and were being questioned, it sounded like. She figured the young girl was probably there with her parents for a school project about Supreme Council procedures or a project concerning the alien issue.

Whatever she was there for, she was scared, very scared. She had no idea of what was _truly_ happening. All she knew was the transport had been attacked, one of the leading Generals had basically declared himself ruler of Krypton and his soldiers had attacked the transport and taken prisoners, including her and her parents. Given the way they'd treated all of them, she was probably afraid that they would all be killed, and Kara wasn't entirely sure they wouldn't do exactly that if they weren't stopped. Once Zod had what he wanted, he'd have no use for any of them, so he'd most likely simply terminate the threat so it couldn't form again.

She smiled gently, hoping it would help calm the girl down, and she whispered, "Hey, are you okay?" The girl jumped when she spoke to her, but after a moment, she started to nod, then changed her mind and shook her head slowly, wordlessly. Kara continued, "My name's Kara. These are my parents, Alura and Zor El. I know you're scared, but it's going to be okay. I know it is."

The girl listened, while her eyes flicked rapidly back and forth between the three of them. Finally, she tried to speak twice before she finally got out, "Jaina, my name's Jaina. I don't…why do you think it's going to be okay? They've got us herded in here, they've been rough, and it doesn't seem like they're just going to let us go and let us go back to our lives. They're going to hurt us, I know they are."

Kara could completely understand the girl's fears, but Kara's hope and faith in Alex is what kept her together. "I _know_ it's going to be okay, because we're not alone. Help is only a short distance away, and these asshats are going to be very surprised, and in very deep trouble, when that help arrives," she told the frightened girl, hoping that if she were told by someone who didn't think, but _knew_ help was coming, it might help her calm down.

Jaina opened her mouth as if to protest, but stopped, frowned, and tilted her head. "Who do you think is coming? If more Sagitari come, how are they going to stop these Sagitari from hurting everyone before they can neutralize them?" she asked, confusion spreading across her face like the shadow of an eclipse. "What…what's an…ass hat?"

Kara laughed, and winked at her. "Something my sister taught me," she replied. "Pretty much, it means fool, idiot, a stupid person who is contemptible, more or less. Anyway, Jaina, I kn—"

She was cut off by a loud booming sound, one that almost sounded like an explosion. The entire ship rattled, and Kara smiled. "Do you hear that?" she asked Jaina. "That's the help."


	15. Chapter 15

_**Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Earth**_

 **Chapter 15**

Miri's feet had no sooner touched the floor in the room she dived into for cover when a loud booming crack sounded and the entire ship shook. Despite this, there was no debris flying from the door, and the timer wasn't set to go off for another few seconds. The breach charge was still counting down, she knew. _What in the name of Rao was that?_ she wondered wildly, still ticking the seconds until the charge went off. _Could the hostages be staging a resistance after all?_

In the middle of that thought, the charge went off, and boomed loudly, sending a harsh shower of dust and debris flying into the corridor beyond the door that Miri had dived through. Tightening her grip on the handgrip of her weapon, and then loosening it, she immediately sped out of the room and through the hole that stood where the door had been just seconds before, and into the main chamber of the ship. She swept the weapon across the breadth of the room, at the ready, as she'd been trained to, as well as sticking to the cover of the walls left on the sides of the gaping hole now stood.

The scene in the main chamber was a vision of chaos. The hostages were just coming up from having assumed the cover position when the charge went off, and the guards were trying to regain their balance and the use of their senses. Just as she entered, there was a loud wrenching sound, the sound of metal being shredded as if it were so much aluminum wrap. With her jaw agape, she couldn't move for several seconds, since she'd fallen into shock at what was happening before her eyes.

The wall that backed the outer hull was being torn open with a horrendous noise as the hostages and rogue Sagitari alike scrambled in confusion. As the hull opened up, a female form, wearing _her_ helmet, stepped inside the chamber, which galvanized the Sagitari into action. Even so, their responses were sluggish at that moment, shock still partially paralyzing them for a moment.

Screams issued from the crowd, and the sounds of weapons being readied seemed to reverberate loudly in the chamber, though it was just an auditory illusion due to the suddenness of what was going on, as fast as it was happening. The Sagitari turned towards the intruder, preparing to fire, but they never got the chance.

The female moved faster than was biologically possible for a Kryptonian. Her hand grabbed the front of the Sagitari's chest plate that was closest to her and shoved with the slightest of motions, a calm dismissal with her hand. The Sagitari flew backwards as if he'd been hit with a speeding skimmer, and slammed into the wall with a loud clang. He slid to the floor, unconscious and unmoving. Miri's jaw was hanging as low as she imagined everyone else in the room's jaw was. She couldn't believe her eyes. She'd never seen anything even remotely like this.

Two more Sagitari rushed the female, swinging their stun batons at her, the idea being to subdue and nullify her. The helmeted female just stood and waited as the batons made contact with her body. Normally, one baton's charge would be enough to take down a raging armored ice lizard in mid charge. Two should have taken her down before the charge had even fully released and left smoking holes in her clothing, which was a simple, nondescript black body suit, much like what the Sagitari wore under their armor. This was a civilian suit, however, and more curiously, it bore no House sigil of any kind. It gave absolutely no idea as to who was beneath the helmet.

The batons crackled, discharging at full power, releasing bright bluish white electric arcs shimmering over the woman's body. Unbelievably, the figure didn't even flinch or show even the slightest hint of discomfort. Since the Sagitari were in as much shock as Miri herself was, they found themselves motionless and staring at the mysterious woman in shocked disbelief. _Who in the name of Rao_ _ **is**_ _this woman? How can she possibly do this? A product of experimental genetic engineering?_

The woman nonchalantly grabbed both batons in her hands, and with a quick flick of her wrists, she sent the two Sagitari tumbling in a hard flip across the room. With absolutely no sign of exertion, she calmly tossed the batons over her shoulder, and they flew out the hole she'd created when she entered. The woman's voice sounded suddenly, distorted and amplified by the communications gear within the helmet, "This can either end peacefully, or painfully. The choice is yours. Make it _now."_

The Sagitari all looked at each other for a split second, not sure of what their next move should be, in light of what they'd just witnessed and were still having trouble processing, let alone believing. Like a flash of lighting, the Lieutenant present fired his weapon, sending a deadly beam of energy blazing straight for the unknown woman, as the hostages yelled or screamed in disbelief, dissolving into a cacophony of chaotic noise.

The woman's voice came once more from the helmet, an odd mixture of amusement and deadly seriousness all at once, "Painfully it is, then." Faster than thought, the woman whirled out of the way, avoiding the beam as it struck one of the rent sections of hull where she'd torn her way into the transport. The impact created a shrill shrieking noise, filling the air alongside the din rising from the hostages. As the woman whirled, she lifted her arm, and struck the Lieutenant on the jaw with her elbow with a fluid motion that was both beautiful, and potentially deadly, given the strength she'd already displayed.

The Lieutenant flew across the room, spinning, and into the wall. There was a loud clang and the side of his helmet was dented deeply, but he seemed to be intact, if not suffering from a mild concussion. Before he even hit the wall, the woman shrugged off a powerful simultaneous tackle from the two largest Sagitari in the room. With barely any effort at all, the two monstrous Sagitari tumbled backwards away from her and landed on their backsides on the floor.

The helmet spun in Miri's direction as she fired, the bolt from her weapon striking the floor between one Sagitari and a demolition pack that had been set aside, carrying various grenades and other such weapons. He was promptly dissuaded from attempting to grab the pack.

As she lowered the weapon, a vicious swipe with a laser edged knife barely missed her cheek. Immediately, she reacted, grabbing the Sagitari's wrist in her right hand. She pulled him towards her, off balance, and slammed his hand into the chamber wall. When lightly armored flesh and bone made contact with Promethium alloy bulkhead plating, a loud, painful smack was heard, and the knife was dropped.

Even as she did this, Miri's right knee rose, and struck him hard in the chest plate, knocking the wind from him. She reversed the momentum and leverage she hand on his captured arm and flipped him backwards onto his back on the floor, where he spun about and stopped with his head closest to her. She stretched and twisted the man's arm as her foot came down over his throat.

X

The two Sagitari that had tried to tackle Alex hit the ground with painful sounding thuds, and rolled away with the force of her resistance. _That should make them reevaluate their positions,_ she thought as she straightened up again, preparing for whatever onslaught was coming her way afterwards. She felt good, she felt _alive_ as she was taking the Sagitari down, preventing them from doing further harm. It was a feeling she could neither explain nor understand other than she knew she was protecting people, including her adoptive family.

The sound of a rifle preparing to fire caught her attention, and she whirled her head towards the sound. The guard she'd knocked unconscious and borrowed the helmet from was in the room, and had just fired. Instead of firing at her, however, the bare headed Sagitari fired across the room at one of her fellow Sagitari, preventing him from grabbing up a demolitions pack. The floor blackened and smoke rose from the spot, as she made it obvious she wouldn't fire a second warning shot.

Out of the corner of her eye, Alex caught movement, and saw the Sagitari heading to assault the young woman that was apparently on her side. The man had a military field knife, complete with activated laser edge, in hand and had sliced at the girl. Instantly, she prepared herself to defend the girl, her unexpected ally, but stopped herself. There was no need.

The young woman didn't blink, or miss a beat. With an expert display of military training and Kryptonian martial arts, she disarmed and subdued her attacker in a matter of a couple of seconds. She heard the woman, as she applied a joint lock on his arm and placed her foot on his throat, say, "Yield, and nothing gets broken. I won't offer that mercy a second time."

 _Damn, she's a lot tougher than she looks!_ thought Alex with amusement. _A lot cuter without the helmet, too. You can drool and admire her later, Alex. Right now, there's work to do._

X

Jaina screamed, and clutched at Kara in terror as the fighting started. The woman tearing through the hull of the transport was scary enough, but the Sagitari attacking her was truly frightening. The Sagitari were particularly noted for their lack of showing mercy to a dangerous enemy, or asking for mercy from an equal or stronger enemy. That wasn't to say that the Sagitari were brutal and savage by any means. Mercy was given, but rarely, and it was dependent upon the circumstances. No one in the room had any illusions about this woman being granted mercy from the Sagitari, though.

Like the rest of the hostages, Kara had huddled with Jaina, to protect her, and had moved with the rest into what appeared to be the safest place in the room. None of them wanted to get in the way of the fighting going on around them. There was a lot of confusion, and fear, amongst the hostages, and Kara was hoping that it could be quelled before it became dangerous.

"It's okay, I promise," Kara whispered to her young friend as she held her securely in her arms. "She's a friend; she's the help I was telling you about. She won't let anything happen to us, any of us."

The fighting was all happening so fast that Kara and the others were hard pressed to really get a good look at what was happening from their perspective. All anyone could tell for sure is that all hell was breaking loose, right there in front of them, in the main chamber of a transport, no less. This wasn't the military storming a terrorist base, or other enemy stronghold, this was an attack on an unarmed vessel, carrying a lot of important people, also unarmed, and by no means versed in the ways of combat as a whole.

Jaina lifted her head, and peeked over Kara's upper arm at the chaos ensuing around them, and then looked up at Kara once more. "Are you sure?" she asked in a whisper, still watching the fighting going on around them. "What if they capture her, or hurt her, or both? There's so many of them, and only one of her. Maybe two, if you count that one Sagitari over there." She was pointing towards Miri, who was taking down the Sagitari with the knife.

"I'm sure," answered Kara with a soft smile, as she lifted her eyes back to the fight. "She can do things no Kryptonian ever thought possible. She's amazing, you'll see." It was evident in her voice, face, and her body language that she had the utmost faith in the woman under the helmet. Kara's steady and strong faith lent its strength to Jaina as she was still within Kara's embrace.

X

Miri put more pressure on her attacker's arm and throat, waiting on him to make his choice. It was just as well she had no further attacks to deal with at that moment, because she was still having trouble believing her eyes. The strange woman was seemingly unstoppable, since the rogue Sagitari were going at her with their best, apparently, and she regarded them as less a threat than a common fly. These were supposed to be some of the most experienced and toughest Sagitari in the military, according to their unit and command markings, yet had done nothing against one woman confronting them.

 _As I said before, they obviously didn't train in General Astra's division. Zod talks a big game, but bluffs more often than he calls,_ thought Miri in mild amusement. _Zod and his cronies may come from extremely well respected and honored Military Guild Houses, but they seem to have decided to get by on their Houses' reputations, instead of forging their own, personal, reputations. The House name does not make the warrior._

Zod was famous, or perhaps infamous, for his prowess at being cruel, vain and brutal. Cunning, but not the brilliant leader he imagined himself to be. Intelligent, moderately insightful, discerning, and able to think on his feet, so to speak, he had great potential. However, he chose to use those qualities to attempt to generate fear rather than respect, to build ego rather than a sense of confidence, and he allowed his petty obsessions with power and his sociopathic, megalomaniacal assurance that he was destined to rule everything he surveyed, Krypton and beyond, to rule his mind.

With a rasp of pain from what was surely a dislocated shoulder at the very least, and a nearly crushed windpipe, the Sagitari growled out, "I yield, I yield. But it does you little good. There are far too many of us for this pitiful bid for power to even come close to success." Even in the immense pain he had to be in, he managed to smirk arrogantly and smugly, as if truly believing he and the other followers of the psychopath that commanded them were destined to control everything.

Miri scoffed, and shook her head before giving his arm a final tiny wrench, and then secured him with the cuffs she carried on her belt. "I said yield and nothing gets broken, but if you keep spouting that ridiculousness, I may have to break something, simply on principle," she said with a light exasperated tone.

The fight was still going on around her, the Sagitari were still foolishly attacking the strange woman even though it'd been proven numerous times that they simply would not and could not defeat her, or get the upper hand in any way. She punched the renegade hard in the jaw, knocking him unconscious as she slowly rose, ready to help in any way she could. _I hope the bastard has to eat a liquid diet through a drinking tube for a month. He just doesn't seem to get the futility of what Zod's got them all convinced to do, and that's not even mentioning the insanity of it all._

She readied her weapon once more, acting as backup and cover for the helmeted woman that was mopping the floor with these supposedly battle hardened and experienced soldiers. At the moment, there didn't seem to be much need for her to do so. _Whatever she is, she's obviously a superior being, exactly the sort of thing Zod and his followers want to be, but will never be. Genetically engineered, a freak accident, alien, I don't care what she is. She's a good person, risking herself for the good of others…even though it doesn't seem like there's much risk here at the moment. In any event, she's the kind of person I want to be, and that Astra tries to inspire us to be in constant examples and reinforcement during training. I just can't help wondering what she looks like under that helmet. If the rest of her is any indication, I'm betting on pretty, at the very least._

The fighting was slowing down, once the mysterious woman had finally convinced the Sagitari that they were fighting a losing battle, with things as they were at that moment. She'd embarrassed them and sent them whimpering with their tails between their legs on numerous occasions in the brief minutes the conflict had been going on. It was finally dawning on them that they weren't quite as formidable as they thought they were, or at least Alex hoped so. She wasn't getting any pleasure out of dealing out pain, not even to them, even though they deserved it. Using her powers was a rush, definitely, but hurting even bad people felt terrible. Unfortunately, it was necessary at the moment. They wouldn't back down, or learn, any other way.

There had been obvious communications activity going on during the fight, and especially since it started taking a much different tone and speed. She hadn't been able to make out anything said, especially not on the sending end, but there was a change in body language and attitude of the Sagitari as the fight was slowing. Everyone wondered what, exactly, that could mean. Whatever it was, they were all sure of one thing: they weren't going to like it.

The doors at the other end of the chamber suddenly opened, and allowed a small squad of additional Sagitari to pour in, along with four prominent figures: Faora, Ursa, Non, and Zod himself. The self proclaimed ruler and compatriots stood staring at the scene before them for a few moments, observing the combat playing out, what little combat was happening at that moment, anyway.

At their arrival, the Sagitari paused, and glanced in their leader's direction. From the expressions on their faces, it was obvious they were getting that whole idea that they were invincible bouncing around in their minds again. Alex knew she was going to have to reeducate them again, and she groaned inwardly.

"Well, well, what have we here?" asked Zod as he stepped more into the room, along with his Lieutenant Generals. His hands were clasped behind his back, and he glanced around with no kindness in his eyes. He lifted his gaze to look, presumably, into Alex's eyes. "A most impressive display, my dear. It's quite clear that you are not a typical Kryptonian by any means, for you possess superior abilities. You are quite the superlative individual. Were we to align ourselves, we could accomplish great things…even though I suspect you are not Kryptonian, superior or otherwise."

Alex held a ready position, though was being deceptively lax in appearance. "I really don't care what you suspect, Zod. It's irrelevant. What is relevant is the fact that this little coup of yours is finished, and you are going to be spending a lot of time in the Phantom Zone on Fort Rozz," Alex said with a confident and strong tone. "Treason and crimes against the people are pretty serious offenses, as I read the law."

Zod seemed to be considering her words, though he wore a rather bemused little smirk of a smile, and stroked his goatee with a total lack of concern. "'Treason and crimes against the people?' You really believe that's what I'm doing?" he asked, his stance and face growing more arrogant with each passing moment. "I am liberating the people of Krypton from the infestation of alien filth that is coming. The infestation that is already here, that has already begun. I will save Krypton, for they are my people, and I will lead them into a new Golden Age, an age of the Kryptonians, for the Kryptonians, ruled by the Kryptonians."

Faora, Ursa and Non wore similar arrogant expressions, though Alex was sure they were for similar, yet different reasons, all according to whose expression you were looking at. Either way, it was obvious that they were on Zod's bandwagon. Alex's stomach was turning in disgust just thinking about it.

She laughed lightly, briefly, at the crazed General's exposition. "And the Kryptonians that rule this new Golden Age of yours will in turn be ruled by you, I'm guessing? They'll be mere puppets, spouting your propaganda, your agenda, and kissing your oh so perfectly divine ass in the process?" she asked, amazed again at the sheer audacity the man possessed. _How can one person live with an ego big enough for a planet rolling around in their head, anyway?_

Zod paused, and glanced up at her, letting his gaze linger on the faceplate of her helmet before replaying, "Yes." He chuckled lightly, and took a couple of steps in a semicircular direction as he spoke, "What is so distasteful about that? It's obvious that the present government we have is woefully inept and inadequate. They spend far too much time debating, arguing, and talking, and not nearly enough time addressing and dealing with real issues happening right now. In order for Krypton to become great again, it will require bold action, and a strong leader, with a strong support apparatus to help ensure that leader's mandates. Who better to lead such a body than me?"

"General Zod will bring Krypton back to a way of life that is what Rao intended for us," piped in Ursa, her dark eyes glittering maliciously as she sinuously moved closer to Zod. There was no mistaking that she considered Zod and herself to be more than simply compatriots, or at least that was the impression that Alex got.

"You must cull the weak, nurture the strong, and maintain that strength through absolute power and authority. General Zod is that power, and that authority. You'll either learn to fall into line and be strong, or be cut out of Kryptonian society the way a cancer is cut from a body," added Faora. Like Ursa, she seemed to be rather taken with the General as well. For his part, Zod neither encouraged or reciprocated to the attentions he was presently being given.

A voice from the other side of the room interrupted the rather stirring debate going on. Astra stood in the blasted out doorway, flanked by a small squad of Sagitari from her division. Her face was focused and serious. "You're still your own biggest fan, I see, Zod," she said with a smile, though it lacked any degree of mirth. "You talk a lot, but you don't really _say_ anything, other than the same old 'I'm better than everyone and should rightfully rule this planet of simpletons.' It's actually disappointing. If you're going to try to convince me of your superiority and greatness, you might try actually demonstrating some of it."

Non's face twisted into a mockery of a smile, more of a malevolent smirk than anything else. His eyes blazed a path to Astra that would incinerate her if a gaze could as he spoke with a despicable tone, "Wife."

Astra shifted her gaze to Non only long enough to retort, "Husband." Her gaze swept over the four of them before settling on Zod again.

"Ah, I see you brought company," said Zod as his eyes moved over the number of Sagitari that entered with Astra. "How fitting. The more that witness today's events first hand, the more that will align themselves with the proper people, and bring my plans to fruition that much sooner. Excellent, Astra."

Astra didn't answer his comment about company. Instead, she fixed her gaze on his and let her face grow tight with seriousness. "I, General Astra In Zee, since I refuse to associate myself with Non's House any longer, hereby offer you the chance to lay down your arms, and surrender to my authority peacefully, without conflict, as is Kryptonian law. Should you refuse this offer, it will not be offered again. Whether this ends in relief, or blood, is up to you, Zod. Decide. You have one minute." Astra's eyes burned with conviction, and she chanced a brief glance at Alex, and then Miri, before returning her gaze to the madman.

"This farce has gone on long enough," growled Non, staring daggers at his wife. The look of pure hatred on his face was no longer even partially masked. He exposed it in all its ugly fury. He ignored all the surprised looks that came his way, even that of Zod.

With surprising speed, Non stepped several steps into the crowd of hostages, and grabbed one harshly by the upper arm and dragged her out, and stood behind her, a laser edged blade at her throat. "Wife, this is only going to end one way. You are going to surrender to us, to General Zod, and submit to his authority. If you don't, I'll slice your precious niece Kara's lovely little neck so deeply her head will roll. Literally," he said with more venom in his voice than Alex could ever imagine anyone having. To emphasize his point, he tightened his grip on her, and touched the blade to her neck. The laser burned skin, and the laser sharpened edge nicked her flesh, allowing a heavy drop of blood to ooze from the cut.

Non gripped Kara painfully again, forcing a wince of pain from her, as he eyed both Alex and Miri. "As for the two of you, the same conditions apply. Lieutenant Re, drop your weapon, put your hands behind your head and go to your knees, and do it now. As for you, girl, you do the same, hands behind your head and on your knees. If you so much as twitch, young Kara Zor El will die painfully. You all have fifteen seconds to comply," Non ordered, the arrogant pride and belief he was in control oozed from his voice.

Miri glanced over at Astra, hoping for some sort of signal. However, Astra reluctantly nodded softly, and started raising her own hands towards the back of her head. Miri's heart sank, but she knew that unless the mystery woman could pull something unexpected out of her hat, they had little choice. Zod and company's men had surrounded them all, and relieved the squad Astra brought with her of their weapons. Following Astra's example, she raised her hands towards her head as well, and began sinking down, though her eyes fell on the rifle that she'd tossed down moments before. _Is it worth the risk to see if I can grab it and get lucky enough to hit a shot or two and save the General's niece? I guess I'll just have to trust that my aim will be true, because I'll only get one chance at this._

Alex seethed behind the faceplate of the helmet. It was bad enough that they had endangered and were threatening Kara and the rest of her family, along with the rest of the VIPs on the transport. Non taking Kara as leverage and insurance was a wholly different matter. Kara was in _direct and certain_ danger, and Alex wasn't about to let that slide. Non was going to pay dearly for that little miscalculation, along with his cohorts, especially Zod, who looked bored with the whole affair by now and was entertaining himself with his delusional thoughts of grandeur.

At that moment, Miri's knee almost touched the deck, only to suddenly lunge forward into a tight roll, scoop up the rifle, and come up in a crouch, armed and at the ready. Blue light flashed from the muzzle of the weapon as she took the best shot she had, a nearly straight shot at Faora, who was the least protected and covered at the moment. The beam struck her squarely in the chest above the heart, and blasted her backwards to strike the bulkhead. Small arcs of electricity danced over her body as she was heavily stunned and incapacitated. Chaos broke loose at that moment.

Even as Miri started her lunge, Alex had been pretending to go along with the demands as well. As she started to sink, she suddenly stomped her foot, causing the entire ship to lurch heavily from the force of her super strong stomp. The rattle caused everyone to fight for balance for a moment. The beam Miri fired struck Faora and she went down, and Alex smiled. She liked the feisty Sagitari, she decided.

During that couple of seconds' worth of being off balance, Non's grip on Kara loosened enough that she could move, even if only a little. Alex cried out, "Kara, duck, _now!"_

Kara complied immediately, hoping whatever Alex had in mind was going to succeed, but she wiped that thought from her mind. She _knew_ it was going to succeed. She lunged away from her uncle, as she stomped her foot down hard on his instep, and at the same moment slammed the edge of her fist back hard at her hip. The hammer fist blow struck Non with devastating force in the groin, causing him to double over, howling in rage and pain.

As Kara began rolling after so brilliantly setting Non up, Alex's hand came up and pointed towards the would be conqueror. Pure energy and force blasted forth from her hand in the form of a reddish white beam of light. It struck Non hard just below the collar bone, and slammed him back across the remainder of the breadth of the room into a bulkhead with a satisfyingly loud smack and thud. He was completely unconscious before he ever touched the floor.

Miri's second shot had missed Ursa, who had managed to scramble clear, and had Zod in tow, despite his anger and trying to rage and scream at the room at large. Miri cursed, and leaped forward over a pair of fallen bodies that had lost their footing when Alex stomped the deck, and tried to line up a second shot, but Zod and Ursa managed to get out of the door, and into the skimmer they'd docked with the transport. By the time Miri reached the door, they were speeding away, and out of range of the rifle. "Damn it to Rao!" she yelled in anger as she slammed a fist into the wall.

Astra had ordered her troops to round up the fallen enemies, and to help the hostages, but suddenly her face went white just as the ship shuddered. "They released the tractor beams. We're going to go into freefall!"

Below them were harsh ocean waters, miles deep, and the shoreline was many miles from their position. If they fell into the water, with all the openings in the ship and the hole Alex had ripped through it, it would sink rapidly, and drag down everyone with it, even if they managed to get out of the transport, thanks to the immense vacuum that the transport would generate.

"What about the engines? Can't they keep us airborne?" asked Kara with not a little fear creeping into her voice. She looked at her aunt with the stricken expression Astra had always dreaded seeing on her face, should anything like this actually happen.

Astra shook her head as she started helping people get prepared for even the slightest possibility that they'd have time to escape. "No, they've been sabotaged. I'm certain of it, because if I were in the position of doing something like this, that's exactly what I'd do."

The pilot, as if on cue, called back and alerted everyone to be prepared for a rough fall, because the engines had been pretty much destroyed. Astra and several others tried to help quell any panic, but it'd already gotten its foot in the door.

Miri was helping Astra and Kara try to get people prepared, and Alex knew she had to do something and do it fast. Without a word, she flew out the hole she'd ripped into the side of the transport.

Making a loop, she came up under the falling ship, and pressed her hands against the bottom of it. With a growl of determination, she slowed the fall to a point where a reversal of direction wouldn't crush everyone aboard with the gravity shift. The ship was heavy, but was far from too heavy for her to lift. She'd been sure to grab extra charge from the skimmers and such, just in case. She didn't want to run out of juice in the middle of a fight, or something, because she'd already expended so much energy before then.

She lifted the ship slowly higher and higher, and then started flying it towards the Complex. Once there, she settled it down onto the landing pad, and entered it from the side once more. "It's okay, everything's good. You're safe and sound at the Complex. The danger is over," she reassured them as they all started slowly coming near her in a rough semi circle.

There were a lot of overlaid thank yous and other expressions of gratitude, which Alex tried to respond to each and every one of them, but it got far too confusing. The lead Council chair approached her, and glanced at the rest of the Supreme Council standing in the chamber, and smiled. "Thank you so much for all you've done. You've saved our lives, and the stability of our world through preserving its governing body and the principles it represents. We have but one request. Could we please have your name, so that we can honor you properly, and include you in the declarations of gratitude that we wish to provide for you?" she asked, her voice having grown formal, though the smile on her face was anything but formal.

Alex felt herself growing flustered beneath the helmet, and shifted nervously from foot to foot. "You don't have to declare anything, or even thank me," she tried to assure them. "It was just me being in the right place at the right time, and doing what was right. Zod and his cohorts needed to be stopped, and you all didn't deserve to die, and I'd do anything to keep you safe, all of you safe, regardless. I believe in helping as much as I can, whenever I can, however I can. I'm just a fellow resident of this planet trying to do the right thing as often as I can. And my name…?" At that point, her mind went blank. She had no idea what to tell them.

Kara glanced at her parents a moment, and then stepped forward and raised her hand. "Pardon my intrusion, Madame Council Chair, and everyone else, but General Zod said it himself. He called her a 'superlative individual.' A girl, a term he used derogatorily. It shouldn't be derogatory at all. She's a superlative girl. Her name is Supergirl."


	16. Chapter 16

_**Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Earth**_

 **Chapter 16**

Supergirl. There was a certain feeling of inspiration that came just from the sound of it, even if Alex thought it sounded a bit over the top. Apparently, the Council and other hostages didn't seem to agree. They looked amongst themselves for a moment, and then back at her. There was a soft murmuring among them as what Kara had said seemed to settle in. Alex grew more and more anxious the longer she stood there, waiting. She didn't want to be rude and just fly away, but she didn't want to be exposed any longer than she had to be, either. She knew the longer she was there, the more questions that would come up, questions she knew she had no answers for, satisfactory or not.

"Supergirl," repeated a woman standing next to the Council Chairman, who was still looking on at Alex in awe. Her expression was pleasant, if a bit hesitant. Like the Chairman, she glanced at those around her a moment. The Guild insignia on the left side of her House sigil marked her as being part of the Lawmaker's Guild. "That's as good a name as any, and it certainly seems appropriate, given the extraordinary lengths you've gone through to save us from General Zod." There was a very slight pause before Zod's name, Alex noted.

The woman paused, letting her eyes move over everyone again, but lingering a moment longer on Alura and Astra's faces a moment before pressing on, "I don't want to seem rude, or ungrateful, so please forgive me if this sounds that way. It's not what I intend to convey. I have to ask, though, and I hope you understand. You're an alien, aren't you?"

A soft but rapid murmuring once more erupted through the chamber as Sagitari paused in rounding up their rogue fellows, which put all ears on what Alex would say. Alex took a deep breath and released it slowly. She was grateful that they couldn't see her face or her eyes as she looked into the crowd at her family, and back to the Councilwoman. "I am, yes," she answered calmly, much to her own surprise.

There was more murmuring, a little louder this time, but when Alex spoke, it died instantly, as if they were hanging on her every word. "I'm from Earth," she stated, glancing around at everyone in a way they could perceive. "I'm a refugee on this planet. My world was dying, everything about my people was ending, but my family had constructed a craft capable of taking me to the stars. They saved me; they sent me out into the stars. I was originally intended to make planetfall on a world orbiting a nearby star."

She paused, letting that much sink in, then spoke again, "Something unexpected happened, though. A spatial distortion formed near my ship's path, and drew me off course, and finally into it. When I came out the other side, I wasn't where I was supposed to be. I was here, and I crashed on your world." Alex took another deep breath, hoping her voice wasn't wavering too badly. "I hid who I really was and stayed out of the public eye until today, when I was forced to come out and reveal myself to you all. I want to protect this planet from anyone that tries to cause it and its people harm, whether they're native or alien doesn't matter. I call this planet home, now, a privilege and honor I cherish greatly. I will give my all to make sure Krypton and its people stays safe. So, I guess I am Supergirl, if that's what you wish to call me."

More talk broke out amongst those in the chamber, louder this time, but still indistinct, since there were so many voices talking at once. The woman that had been speaking grew solemn, and said, "I came to make my voice heard today and to make sure that I was heard as loudly as my fellows. Aliens are an infestation, a plague, a disease that threatens our way of life, our planet, and our very existence. If we let them in, we are destroying ourselves by letting them destroy us."

She paused, and the chamber grew silent, though Alex could feel each and every eye on her. She sighed softly behind the faceplate, because this is exactly what she expected. Now she'd be sought out and hounded every step if they ever found out who she was, and the rest of her family would suffer only God knew what because of her. She'd just saved everyone on the ship in which she stood, yet the fact she was an alien seemed to make that fact mean nothing.

"These are the beliefs many people on this planet have, these are beliefs I held close myself, from as far back as I can remember until coming to this session today," the woman continued with her tone remaining deadly serious. Then something startling happened, something that took Alex completely by surprise. The woman's expression softened and she looked both embarrassed and grateful.

"Today, we were attacked, the entire Council almost killed, and the planet would have been in the clutches of a madman. A _Kryptonian_ madman, a person native to this world, that fervently believes as I did that aliens are the unquestioned destroyers of our way of life and our world," she went on, the tone of her voice changing as she continued. "Then, the wall of this very chamber ripped open and you, an alien, came through it, displaying the exact type of unfathomable means to destroy us all. Instead, you came to our defense, and you saved us from absolutely certain death, without a thought of your own well being, whether you could be harmed, or killed, yourself or not.

"It would be impossible for you to have been on Krypton long enough to wish to call it home and not know what a great number of our people feel about those not of Krypton, of aliens," she said rather plainly. Every ear in the chamber was focused on her. "Yet you saved us anyway, even if a huge number of us hated you. Your acts were selfless, not selfish. You risked yourself for complete strangers and often hostile strangers towards your kind, regardless. That means something. That means something to _me_."

The silence was deafening during the Councilwoman's pause, and Alex wasn't sure exactly where she was going, but you could tell she was involved in government. She took the long way around the barn to say whatever it was she intended to say. Then again, she was essentially a lawyer or a judge. On Earth, they weren't known for being brief and plain spoken. Apparently, they weren't on Krypton, either.

The Lawmaker shook her head slowly and softly. "Something I thought completely impossible happened today. If I believe something, that belief is generally written in stone. It's nearly impossible to change that belief and that point of view. You, Supergirl, rewrote what was written in stone. You changed my mind and my heart. If you could do that to me, you can do that to anyone. My vote on the disposition of Krypton in regards to aliens has changed, from negative to positive. Whether or not the vote today as a whole is favorable or not, _this_ Kryptonian welcomes you to Krypton with open arms. Thank you, and welcome home, Supergirl."

The sound of one person clapping suddenly sounded from the former hostages, immediately followed by a rising crescendo of additional clapping. Kara, beaming proudly, stood tall, and clapped probably the loudest of all, as the chamber echoed with the voices of all within it spoke united as one, "Welcome to Krypton, Supergirl. Welcome home."

X

Several days passed, and the news services were alive and buzzing with coverage of the Council session on the disposition of aliens and subsequent legislation regarding them, but interwoven among that were many recaps of Supergirl and her deeds that had saved Krypton from falling into the nightmarish state of affairs that Zod and his followers would create. Though there were a few protests large enough to be featured, the overall response to positive alien legislation was generally favorable, it seemed.

Zod and his companions, minus Faora, were still at large. They were out there, somewhere, plotting on how to take the world by more definitive force rather than attempt to sway general opinion their way to the point they'd go along with Zod's madness willingly. Alex was certain of that, and she had spent a large part of the past several days since the Council transport incident searching for them. Wherever they were, they were hidden well, as far as Alex could tell. _I'd say at least they've been quiet, but I imagine that's more bad than good. It usually is with crazy people like that fucking fruit loop._

"Congratulations on your widespread acceptance to Krypton, Alex," said Jessica as she sat on the table near Alex and Kara, who were trying to figure out a better way to keep the public at large from deducing that Supergirl was Alex, instead of the helmet she'd been using. The statement jerked Alex's attention rudely from the conversation with Kara she'd been having.

"What?" she asked in confusion, since her attention had been heavily focused and invested in the possibilities she and Kara were talking about. "My widespread accep… Where the hell did you find out about that? I thought you've been working with Zor, trying to integrate all those memory recordings of my parents into the AI interface?" she asked in exasperation.

Kara giggled silently behind her hand as Jessica's coloring shifted towards a faint reddish color, and she sounded almost offended when she answered, "If you recall, I am _excellent_ at multitasking. Moreover, feeding such data into the AI computer center is a simple, yet uneventful, task. Therefore, between conversations with Alura, Zor, and Kara, and observing the news services' transmissions, I applaud you on your extremely heroic efforts." Her swirling colors and lights returned to their normal soft hue.

Alex narrowed her eyes as she turned towards Kara, trying to keep a straight face as she said in a low voice, "Kara, _you_ went blabbing and exaggerating to the talking eight ball here what happened? You're _lousy_ at keeping secrets, you know that?" She took up a cushion and with very gentle force, popped Kara on the shoulder as her composure broke down and she started laughing.

"Oof!" Kara took the cushion hit with a laugh, which rapidly escalated into a rapid giggle, and popped her sister right back with another one. "I am not! It's just that there is absolutely no way she wouldn't find out eventually, since she is very resourceful, and she's a computer on top of that so why even bother trying to not say anything? You know she'd bug me until I told her everything anyway!"

Jessica brightened, and there was more than a hint of amusement in her voice as she interjected, "Thank you, Kara. And she's right, Alex. A little known fact about me is that I'm quite persistent, and do not give up on any important endeavor I put my resources to." There was far too much human like expression of amusement and playful snark in her tone, which made Alex sometimes wonder if there actually wasn't a tiny human girl hiding in the sphere, in jest.

"Little known my ass," laughed Alex, and leaned back on the couch, shaking her head softly. "By now, half the galaxy knows you're persistent, to the point of being a star sized pain in the ass!" She was joking, of course. More, it was hard to believe Jessica _wasn't_ actually a person, one of her best friends, most of the time, if you just listened to her. She'd been true to her word, and learned how to interact with her in a more natural way as she'd grown and assimilated knowledge about her. She even traded barbs and jokes like a real person.

They all had a rather hearty laugh, Alex and Kara actually literally rolling on the couch. They laughed to the point where tears were trying to come to their eyes. Like she couldn't imagine being without Kara and her family, Alex couldn't imagine life without Jessica in it either. The blend of Martian and human technology had become a very large, very important part of her existence. A true friend, regardless of what her state of being might be.

The chime for the door went off suddenly, and since Kara was closer to the monitor than anyone else, she went to it and looked at the screen. "It's Aunt Astra," she said as she turned her head towards Alex. "And she brought that Lieutenant Re with her. Make sure you don't trip over your tongue and find yourself hovering in front of her at boob level or something!" she snickered, wiggling her eyebrows.

Kara had seen the gaze that Alex had given the Lieutenant during the attack on the transport, as well as having watched every single twitch and tic of her face and eyes whenever she was mentioned, or the incident became part of a conversation afterwards. It was obvious that the young Sagitari had captured Alex's attention during the attack, and though it'd been brief, Kara was very sure that she had seen a similar reaction in the Sagitari to Alex. In her opinion, it seemed to be mutual attraction, and if it was, Kara would be very excited and happy for Alex.

"Oh, hush!" laughed Alex. She'd tried, but she couldn't stay annoyed with Kara, especially when she was being funny, like she was right then. "She doesn't have the first clue who I am, or whatever. As far as she knows, she's never been in the same place as I have, let alone knows who I am."

Kara nodded as her mother moved towards the door to answer it, and spoke softly so as not to be overheard, "No, but attraction is attraction. I'm absolutely certain she'll be just as drawn to you and attracted to you as she seemed to be on the transport. It's obvious _you_ won't be able to cover up your attraction to _her."_ The last sentence had been said with pure support, with no trace of sarcasm. She knew Alex was very passionate, and that passion was extremely hard to cover up when she was trying to avoid a subject or something. Her attraction to the Lieutenant was like Rao blazing in the sky at night would be. It was beyond obvious.

As the girls walked towards the door, Alura and Astra were just parting from a hug. "I wanted to make sure you all were okay after the incident. Oh, and this is Lieutenant Miri Zan Re, one of my most trusted officers. She aided Supergirl in the saving of the transport," Astra said, putting a hand on Miri's shoulder.

Alura smiled, and nodded. "I remember," she said to her sister with a smile. She turned her gaze towards the young officer, and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant. Thank you for your help, on behalf of my family, and I'm sure such a deed won't go unnoticed. If they don't recognize you for it on their own, I have no doubts Astra will waste no time in reminding them of your deeds. She tends to be quite adamant about such things being properly acknowledged."

The young woman smiled and nodded towards her. "Just Miri is fine, Ma'am. You're the General's sister, and for that fact alone you have my utmost respect. Your status and position aren't necessary for that respect," she said. "And yes, I've noticed the General is thorough regarding both punishment for wrongdoings and rewards for appropriate actions."

Alura stepped back and waved them into the house. The robotic assistant Kerex was coming into the room from the other side of the house. "Good afternoon, General Astra, and Lieutenant Re," the automaton said. "Might I be of service in some way?"

Alura noticed Kara and Alex entering the room from the other side, and smiled. Like Kara, the glances between Alex and Miri hadn't gone unnoticed. With a wave of her hand, she indicated the girls. "Lieutenant Re…I mean Miri, these are my daughters, Kara and Alex. Girls, this is Lieutenant Miri Zan Re. She was the Sagitari that saved the Council and transport with Supergirl," she said, then turned to the robot. "Thank you, Kerex, that'd be wonderful. If anyone would like something to drink, it'd be appreciated."

The girls all exchanged hellos, though there was an unusually long eye contact and pauses in speaking between Alex and Miri. Alura and Astra exchanged silent glances, and identical smiles, then shared them with Kara, who appeared as if she were about to burst. She'd never been able to contain her excitement for long, and she was highly excited from all indications.

Despite the fact that the conversation Alex and Kara had concerning Alex's orientation had never been discussed with either Alura or Astra, neither seemed oblivious to the fact that Alex was smitten with the Lieutenant. Also, both were equally sure that there was something about Alex that captured Miri's attention in a different way than Kara or anyone else did.

Glancing over at Alura once more, Astra allowed her smile to grow a little, and caught the girls' attention. "Little Ones, why don't you give Miri a tour, and show her some of the projects you've been toying with before you submit your petitions to the Guilds? I'm sure she'll find several of the holo images and such around the house as breathtaking and stunning as I do," she suggested craftily.

The girls consented and left the room, with Alex in the lead, they noticed, before the twins sat down. Astra took her drink from Kerex, who had returned with her usual, and whispered, "I didn't know Alex was attracted to girls. If I had, I would have introduced her to Miri a while back. Alex was always kind and gracious to that boy she was dating, the brother of the boy Kara's been seeing, Den An I think his name is? Yet, she never seemed truly comfortable or happy with the situation."

Alura took her drink as well, and thanked him before responding, "I didn't either, but I'm sure Kara did. Those two are inseparable. I think Alex knows more personal things about Kara than I do." She laughed softly as she took a drink, and shifted her position before continuing, "I never felt like she was nearly as happy as she pretended to be dating Den An either. She's said many times that he's a wonderful, sweet boy, but I always thought that she lacked that sort of attraction to him."

"I doubt Alex wants to hurt his feelings, though, so I'm going to guess that she's never told him that she just doesn't feel that way about him?" asked Astra, leaning back in her seat. The sound of the girls' voices had faded. "Alex has always been so strong, but she's also got a very kind and sensitive heart. Her strength is balanced by her compassion and caring. I would think losing your family and your entire world would have to either destroy you, or make you extremely strong, and it seems that's true for Alex."

Alura nodded in agreement, and leaned forward to glance the way the girls had gone before settling back, and answering, "Honestly, I doubt she ever has, either. I'm sure she knows she needs to, but I'd imagine the weight of causing him emotional pain is keeping her from being as direct as she'd normally be. I've never doubted Alex's strength, like you said; the things she went through would have to have made her amazingly strong. But in a lot of ways, she's a lot like Kara, though she tries not to show it for whatever reason."

"The fact that they do have so many similar traits is probably why they get along so well, as much as their opposite traits make them stronger together," replied Astra thoughtfully. "They share a bond that reminds me strongly of our bond, yours and mine. That bond will only strengthen them and their connection to each other and their family."

The twin sisters sat in silence for a few moments, experiencing the very bond they were speaking of, each considering what the other had said. Finally, Alura set her glass down on the table and regarded her sister. "Is Miri attracted to girls? The way you've always spoken of her, it seems that she's as close to being your daughter as she possibly could be without actually being so. You both seem to know the other well, very well," she observed.

"I don't know if she sees it that way or not, but I do, yes," answered Astra, obviously giving it some thought. "I'm grooming her for great things, things I know she'll do. I see her fulfilling my position eventually when I retire from the Sagitari. I think of her as a daughter, yes. She's brilliant, passionate, devoted and loyal. But to answer your question, I believe she is. It's not common knowledge, things like that about her, but it's been something I've suspected for some time now. She's never said who she's attracted to, but I do know she seems lonely at times, because she's focused all her attention on the Sagitari, the training, all of that. She hasn't left herself any time or room for personal things that I've seen."

"Maybe, if they are mutually attracted, and they manage to get close, perhaps it'll relieve the loneliness both of them feel," murmured Alura thoughtfully. "Alex is as close to Kara as one person can be to another, but they're definitely at the age where they need a different sort of companionship on a more concrete basis. Kara seems to really like the Ner An boy, but Alex has been sort of…well, floundering. Maybe this is what they both need, and both will come out the better for it."

"I truly hope so. I love Alex dearly, just as I do Kara, and seeing them happy is something I want very much in life. I love Miri as well, like she was my daughter, and if this could become something that would make them all happy, I would be happy as well, Alura," replied Astra quietly. They both sat in silence for a long time, both looking at the doorway through which the girls had disappeared through.


	17. Chapter 17

_**Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Earth**_

 **Chapter 17**

After leaving Alura and Astra, the three girls walked back through the house, pausing to look at different pictures and knick knacks as they talked. Alex and Kara had had the sense to conceal Jessica out of sight until Miri left. Discovering her would raise far too many questions, and both girls knew it. Even Jessica recognized the idea for the prudent course of action it was, since she usually preferred to be pretty much in the middle of everything.

"That was very brave of you the other day, Kara," said Miri with a smile as they moved on from a holo of the Jeweled Mountains the family had taken on a trip there a couple of years before. The view was spectacular, and quite beautiful, as the facets of the jewels on the mountain that were the inspiration for their name caught the light of Rao, and reflected it in many ways. Miri seemed particularly entranced by it as they let her take it all in.

Kara scowled clandestinely at Alex, who had a rather large grin on her face at Miri's comment, and smiled and shrugged as they continued their way on through the house, "I didn't do much of anything, really, except get caught. That girl, Supergirl, she's the one that did the brave thing. If I had her powers, I don't think I could have done it. I didn't have Alex there to keep me brave."

Alex opened her mouth to refute Kara's words, but thankfully Miri interceded, "Nonsense, Kara. You shielded and reassured that young girl. You had absolute confidence that someone would rescue everyone. You were in a chamber with four of the most dangerous people on Krypton, as well as a decent sized cadre of Sagitari, and yet you stood between her and them. I'd call that brave, myself. Wouldn't you, Alex?" Miri nudged Alex's arm as she asked the question.

"I…," stammered Alex, completely taken off guard by the sudden physical contact and felt even more so by how something so simple and innocuous could feel as good as it did. She really had to get a hold of herself, she thought. "I…well, yeah of course I call it brave. Kara's very brave, kind hearted, all those sorts of things. And Kara, you didn't need me there to 'keep you brave.' You, my dear sister, are far more formidable than you allow yourself credit for."

"There, do you see? Alex agrees with _me_. You were brave," said Miri, with a rather pleased with herself look, and a light bounce in her step as they walked. She seemed very different at that moment from the no nonsense Sagitari image she normally projected. Then again, she felt relaxed and actually free at that moment, so why not loosen her grip on protocol for a few moments?

Alex nearly burst out laughing. She caught herself holding her breath, waiting for the teasing nyah nyah sound that most human youngsters would playfully taunt each other with after such a comment. Even though it never came, she could _definitely_ see it in that mischievous sparkle that Miri's eyes had at that very second. She coughed to cover her near loss of composure and cleared her throat, "All kidding aside, Kara, I'm extremely proud of you. I'm sure to that girl…what was her name? Jaina? I'm sure Jaina sees you as a hero, even if you don't."

Kara scoffed, and waved a hand towards them both. Alex was in between the two of them, Kara noticed, and had to work hard not to grin like an idiot. "Okay, maybe she _might_ I guess, but it was Supergirl who was the _true_ hero. What she did, the things she can do…she has to be an amazing person, super powered alien or not. Did you hear her, the way she talked to everyone, the way she just oozed honesty, integrity, and goodness? She's the role model, without a doubt," she said to cover her rapidly growing grin as she watched the both of them.

Miri glanced at Alex, a glance very much like the few dozen she'd already tossed Alex's way in the short time they'd been talking, because Rao knew Kara had been paying rapt attention and even counting. "Well, yeah you're right about that. Supergirl was definitely something to behold, in action, and just talking to those she'd just saved. It's a shame she felt she had to borrow my helmet to conceal her face. I'm pretty sure she's very pleasant to look at, but I'm more surprised she went to such lengths to stay pretty much anonymous," Miri said thoughtfully as she "accidentally" meandered closer to Alex.

Alex was oddly silent through all this, but Kara made up for the silence enough for both of them. She glanced at Alex just a split second before meeting eyes with Miri again. "She probably is beautiful under that helmet, yeah. I agree with you there. But would you think she was so beautiful because she actually is, or maybe because what she did for everyone? She did lift the entire transport and catch it, keeping it from falling into the ocean. She saved a lot of people. Would she be prettier than most other people you've seen, do you think?" asked Kara, much to Alex's panic.

Miri almost jumped to answer that question. Kara watched her eyes move to look at Alex out of the corner of them, where they stayed the whole time she answered, "I'm sure she's beautiful too, but there's a lot more to beauty and attraction than just looks, of course. I'd be willing to say that there may be some that are more reachable and relatable that may be just as beautiful." She glanced between the two sisters a moment, and then added, "Assuming, of course, that attraction is a factor in appreciating whatever beauty she might possess."

Kara only smiled as Miri's eyes snapped away from Alex, and a slight flush came to her cheeks. That settled it as far as she was concerned. She glanced at her chronometer, and gasped with what she hoped wasn't too much drama. "Oh, damn, I almost forgot about Ner An and my date tonight. I've got to go get ready! You guys talk and stuff if you like. It was amazing to meet you, Miri!" she exclaimed as she rather boisterously made an exit, intending to give Alex and Miri time to actually talk without having to worry about someone else right there with them.

The two girls watched in bemusement as Kara rushed off. Alex half shrugged with a smile as she turned back to continue the walk. Miri actually laughed, and nodded in the direction that Kara had retreated in as she asked, "Is she always that excited for a date? It must be really nice to have something that you look forward to that much. This Ner An must be a very good guy."

Alex glanced back in the direction Kara had gone as well, and nodded, "He's really nice, yes, and he seems to genuinely like and be interested in Kara, otherwise I'd have to have a polite little chat with him. You'll find that Kara is an exceptionally and extremely sweet person, and yeah she really likes him, so she's very excited most of the time. I'm actually surprised she was that calm about it today."

"That's fantastic that they're so well matched, then. Oh, a tough big sister, huh? I'm sure Kara appreciates that, though, even if she sometimes acts like she doesn't," Miri said as they entered the next room. Within it were the projects that the girls were working on. Kara's was covered, and Alex moved to stand next to hers as Miri pressed on, "What about you, Alex? Has someone been lucky enough to snatch you up as well? I hope they treat you as well as you say Ner does Kara."

Alex was completely taken off guard by the question as she double checked some calculations she'd worked up on the serum she was trying to develop for her project to present to the Science Guild. "Um, uh no, I'm not dating anyone. Well, not exactly, anyway. I've gone out with Ner's older brother Den a few times. He's really nice, like Ner. He's very sweet. But honestly, I just don't feel that way about him. I think we're much better off as friends," she answered awkwardly as she looked back up at the lovely Sagitari.

There was a couple moments' silence between the two of them, during which Alex nervously kept glancing up, and back to the computer. With a light smile, Miri leaned against the workstation and regarded Alex a moment. "That's always sort of a disheartening thing when you like someone really well, but don't like them in a romantic sort of way. It can make things between you a little awkward, I'd guess. I haven't really been in enough relationships to actually speak from volumes of personal experience. I've spent most of my time focused on the Sagitari and my duties."

Alex nodded softly as she closed out the project for the time being and leaned against another part of the workstation. "Yeah, it does make things a bit awkward between us," she admitted in a soft voice. "I was afraid it could affect things between Ner and Kara but it hasn't so far, so that's good. Den's pretty understanding of the situation, so that's a plus. I really didn't want to hurt his feelings or anything. It has nothing to do with _him_ really. He's just…just not my type I guess is the best way to put it."

That got Miri to thinking for a long moment. With a half smile, she crossed her arms slowly over her chest and watched Alex's face for a few moments before asking, "That's too bad, honestly. So, what do you feel like _is_ your type? If you know he's not your type, surely you've got some idea of what your type is, right?"

Alex felt her face turn as red as Rao burned in the sky, and she looked out the window at the spires of Argo City for a long moment before she returned her gaze to Miri. Her eyes searched the Sagitari's face for a moment before she let out a deep breath, and shrugged as she answered, "Honestly? You."

There was a long silence between them as they each effectively stared at one another, saying nothing. Inside, Alex was panicking, getting that nauseating feeling that she'd crossed the line, or upset Miri in some way. Miri wasn't saying anything, and that worried her, especially given the way the Sagitari's gaze had intensified on her, feeling like it was burning through her. _Why didn't I just keep my mouth shut, or lie or something? Because I'm not a liar, of course. But now, I think I just fucked myself six ways from Sunday._

The silence lingered for a couple more moments, though they felt like a string of eternities for Alex, then Miri finally let her face relax into an expression of extreme surprise, finally answering, "Really? You're serious?" She paused a moment, and then her own face turned a bit red and she laughed nervously, "That's funny. I was going to tell you the same thing. I know we just met, but there's something about you, Alex Zor El…"

Miri trailed off, and before she could blink, Alex stepped forward, took her face gently in her hands, and kissed her softly. The kiss burned and tingled in the most delightful way, and Miri's entire body felt like she'd just been struck by lightning, the emotion was so raw and intense. When their lips parted, she was gasping for breath, unable to believe what happened, but she smiled. _Whether I believe it or not doesn't matter. It happened, and I'm damned glad it did! There's something about Alex, I don't know what it is, but whatever it is, I hope it never goes away._

Before Alex could do more than gulp a couple of breaths down, Miri returned the favor. Their kisses weren't simply impulsive actions, or something they made themselves do. It was real, honest, and clean. Neither of them would have believed it possible, but they had a connection, something more than either of them could realize. To each of them, it felt like the universe itself wanted them together, but more importantly, despite the extremely short time they'd known each other, they felt emotions that felt like they had a lifetime of experience behind them.

X

Alex was sitting in the lab where the holograms of her parents were kept, staring at the dais in quiet contemplation several hours after the whirlwind flurry of kisses and extremely strong feelings that neither of them knew why or how they had them, only that they did. She toyed with a wrinkle across her thigh in her pants leg when Kara came in.

Kara smiled when Alex looked up, and came to sit beside her. She didn't say anything immediately, instead opting to just be there, and watch Alex's face. She hadn't bothered the pair after she'd left, and even when Astra and Miri had gone, she'd given Alex some space, and time to let everything sink in. Kara knew nothing about what had happened, or what had been said, but if Alex's behavior was any indication, she came to the conclusion that it had been positive.

After several minutes, Kara finally reached over and covered Alex's hand with her own, a light, sisterly touch as she said, "So, you and Miri had a chance to talk, just the two of you. You both seemed to get along pretty well when I left. Since they left, I figured you needed a little time to yourself, so I let you have that time. _Did_ everything go okay?" Even though she was certain it had, she wouldn't be completely convinced until she heard it from Alex's lips, and saw it in her face and eyes.

Alex was motionless and silent for several heartbeats, and then seemed to suddenly snap back to reality. She glanced up at Kara and shook her head in what Kara thought looked like disbelief. "Oh, yeah everything went fine. It went better than fine, actually. It was…there just aren't words for…I've never felt anything like that, not ever," she answered, looking more confused than anything and a little distraught as well.

The young Kryptonian waited for a few moments, waiting to see if Alex would try to explain or clarify what she meant. When she hadn't continued so far, she gave Alex's hand a squeeze, and said softly, "If it went fine, or to use your words, better than fine, what's wrong? I thought if everything went okay, then you'd be really excited and happy. Instead, you seem almost…to be honest, almost scared, and scared is a word I'd _never_ associate with you. I don't believe I've ever seen you scared since you came to us."

"I am, Kara. It just doesn't make any sense!" Alex exclaimed as she got up, and began pacing around the area in front of the bench they were sitting on, and the dais a few feet away. She turned back towards her sister with her hands outstretched, palms up. "I barely know her. We just met a few hours ago. Even so, I feel so…Kara, we _kissed,_ and I mean kissed a _lot._ Why do I…how can I _possibly_ feel so close to her, so emotionally intertwined with her? There's something off, something wrong, there has to be. This is crazy, and what's crazier is that she seemed to feel like I do, the powerful connection, and the disbelief and fear. What the hell am I doing?"

Alex had turned quickly and her pacing had suddenly become much more anxious, but Kara was undaunted. She immediately stood, and wrapped Alex in a tight hug, holding onto her tightly, and she felt Alex's arms come up to hold her as well after a few seconds. Kara could feel the quickened breathing and the racing heartbeat that was driving Alex at that moment. They stayed that way for a long time, silent, as Kara tried to calm her, to stroke her hair and back, and show her that it was okay, she was allowed to feel everything she was feeling.

Kara whispered into Alex's ear, "Alex, you know we love you. I love you. We've always felt an odd sort of connection, too. It started the moment I saw you in that craft. I knew you needed help, and I was both determined and desperate to help you. That can't be any crazier than what you're feeling right now, can it? It happened, though, Alex. It's a matter of truth and fact."

Alex said nothing, but nodded, and allowed Kara to continue holding her. Kara was sure she could feel tears soaking into her top in small spots, but didn't care. She continued, "You told me once that on Earth, there was a lot of debate and lore about the idea of 'love at first sight.' It doesn't sound logical, or even possible, to most ears, yet you yourself said it _did_ happen sometimes, as farfetched and crazy as it seemed. Feelings are some of the most confusing, frustrating, and twisted things a person can experience. We can experience so many all at the same time, especially ones that are in direct opposition to others. Logically, to any sane and rational person, that sounds like a recipe for complete and total chaos, and the perfect catalyst for us to implode upon ourselves like a collapsing star. Yet, we continue, we sludge our way through it all, and usually come to some sort of reconciliation with what we're feeling, don't you think?"

Kara squeezed Alex tightly again, and cupped her cheeks in her hands as she pulled back a little, searching Alex's eyes, "You feel a strong connection to Miri. You have strong feelings swirling and bouncing around inside you that you're not sure what to think or how to deal with. Stop thinking for a moment, okay? Let your mind rest, and just let yourself _feel_ what's going on under all the turmoil and chaos. What do you feel, what comes to your mind, when you think about her, or hear her mentioned, or even see her?"

Alex closed her eyes as Kara spoke, and the feeling of her cool skin against hers was soothing, calming, as it always had been. She'd never felt as close to anyone as she did to Kara, ever. She struggled to follow Kara's advice, to peek inside herself and try to make reason out of madness. She was shaking as she fought to slow down, to breathe slowly, and find her center.

"I feel like everything has become white hot, and that the universe itself is going to explode so completely with white, there would be no darkness anywhere," she answered with a shaky voice. "I feel a need to be near her, to touch her, to…to…hold her and kiss her. I feel like a huge part of my heart and soul are gone whenever she's not with me."

The Kryptonian nodded softly, and locked eyes with her sister. "She's become a part of you, she's like a half of you, it sounds like. That's something so very, very rare. Here, arranged marriages are pretty common, as I'm sure you've discovered by now. It's not as prominent as it was a few hundred years ago, but it's not completely uncommon, either. Even in normal marriages, love is often a rare gem to be treasured. They're often for some sort of advantage or benefit, unfortunately, much like the arranged ones. When someone loves the person they're with, like Mother and Father for example, things are so much better, so much easier and so much clearer."

Alex involuntarily jerked and jumped at the mention of love, and the agitation that she had been gradually releasing was suddenly back again. "Love? It can't be love, Kara. It can't. It doesn't make any sense, how is this possible? Why does it even seem to be possible? I've been around her less time than the average work day was back on Earth. It…it's just…I don't know if I could say, let alone feel…" she ranted for a moment. Then her expression changed, and the look in her eyes wrenched Kara's heart because of the absolute confusion and pain that she saw in them. "What…what if…what if it blows up in my face? What if it's just some stupid, crazy wishful thinking, or something I've deluded myself into? What if…if she doesn't feel like this? I don't want to feel that sort of pain, it sucks, it hurts, it's…I just don't want to experience that."

 _I think that's the problem. Alex is so uncertain, so afraid…everything here is so much different than where she's from. I understand that, and it's only natural. The story she told me, about the Vicki girl…I think maybe she felt rejected by their argument and falling out, even though she didn't say anything about her feelings. That must have traumatized her, made her so uncertain and afraid. I've_ _ **never**_ _seen Alex display fear about anything. It's killing me seeing her so lost and unsure of anything,_ Kara thought as she reached out for Alex's hands.

She gave Alex's hands a squeeze when Alex took hers, and she offered a hopeful smile as she spoke, "I won't lie and say it's not possible, no matter how unlikely it is that could happen, that'd be naïve and cruel of me. However, if it's not like that at all, all of us, all of your family, will be very happy and delighted for you. If for whatever reason it does happen, and I pray to Rao that it won't ever, then…then you'll never have to face it alone, and never have to feel alone, because I'm going to be right here, stuck to you like glue. You're my sister, Alex, and I would _never_ let something like that happen to you if I could stop it, and I _damned_ sure would never let you deal with it alone."

Alex blinked, feeling silly and stupid, even though she knew Kara would rip Krypton from its orbit to prove her wrong. Quietly, she asked, "Do you think I should let this play out, and at least let it go long enough to know if my fears are founded, or just paranoid?"

Kara nodded softly, and said, "I think so, yes. And remember, I'm there with you every single step of the way, by your side. I'll always be right there with you."

Alex wiped the moisture that was drying on her cheeks away, and started to reply when Alura came into the room, looking harried and anything but calm. "Girls, you should come have a look at this. The news is showing a disturbing report," she said with not a little tension.

"What is it? What's happening?" asked both girls at once, in one voice.

Alura's face hardened and she let out a slow breath. "Zod's announcing his intentions to stamp out any resistance, exterminate the 'alien infestation' for the good of Krypton, and take over the world government by force. He's already got a squad of warships headed here, to Argo, and his flagship and core fleet are heading for Kryptonopolis," she replied. "Astra and her division are on their way to intercept and engage."

Anger coursed through Alex's body and she breathed out heavily, and growled, "Goddamnit! That arrogant son of a bitch!"

As they practically ran for the nearest view panel, Kara touched her shoulder. "This sounds like a job for Supergirl," she quipped with dark humor as they came in just in time to see a civilian transport blown out of the sky in uptown Argo City.


	18. Chapter 18

_**Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Earth**_

 **Chapter 18**

Dark streamers of smoke followed the pieces of debris that used to be the transport to the city streets below. Even from the height they were, they could see people scattering in panic, and even hear faint screams finding their way up to their ears. The scene was horrendous, it struck the very senses numb for moments, the shock that anyone could possibly think this was in the best interests of the world and her people was tangible.

Alex whirled towards Alura and spoke quietly, but decisively, "Alura, call Astra, however you need to. Just get word to her that I'm on my way. Don't take any unnecessary risks of any kind. Keep the people safe, and her Sagitari safe." There was a look of steely determination in her eyes as she turned back towards the window once again.

The girls could hear Alura speaking with someone over the com unit as Kara took something from a box and handed it to her. Alex had already changed into the plain black bodysuit she'd worn on her previous outing. The human accepted the object, which resembled a sort of choker collar. "Father and I worked on this," Kara said as Alex took it from her. "Tap the stud here, and a mask of sorts will cover your face and neck, but leave your hair visible. The technology for the face is much like the Sagitari helmets, only it's been improved upon."

"Thank you," replied Alex as she slipped the collar into place. She tapped the stud indicated, and the collapsed face plate rapidly rose to protect her face and her identity. Inside the plate, a heads up display superimposed itself over her field of vision, but didn't obstruct it. "This should definitely help my problem with keeping a secret."

"Of course it will," said Jessica with a tone of assurance and pride. The computer's voice came from the face plate itself. "I'm uplinked with you, so I'll be able to help you, should you need it, Alex, or Supergirl if you prefer. No one but you will be able to hear me. The link is achieved through contact with you through a neural interface. In addition, the device has a part of my system within it, so it is able to shape shift as I am. We'll all make a wonderful team."

"You don't have to actually speak, either. Jessica can hear you and communicate with you psionically, much like her creator's people were able to communicate with each other," added Kara as she gave Alex a quick hug. Despite the terrible things happening, she wore a light smile. That little smile of hope she always wore. "Hurry, there's no telling what's going to happen next. Go show them what's so super about you."

Before Kara could even finish her sentence, Alex had given her the thumbs up signal that she'd taught her not long after first landing on Krypton, and had flown out the window, streaking towards the outbound ships so quickly, all anyone would be able to see was a slight blur.

X

The sound of metal being crumpled under incredible pressure rang out over the streets of Argo City as Alex absorbed the energy put off by the fire and shorting out of systems in the fragments of hull falling to the ground, and then she crumpled them all together like making a ball out of loose scraps of aluminum foil. The people scrambling beneath her couldn't make out what was happening, other than the pieces of transport were being balled up, and then thrown out towards the outlands by Supergirl.

Before the ball reached the apex of its flight, Alex was on the move. She blasted through the air, sending the shock waves of several sonic booms echoing in her wake as she flew towards the nearest ship, some miles ahead of her. Beams of light lanced out towards her, raining particle beam fire towards her and the surrounding buildings. Apparently, Zod had taken her into account for his move on the capital and larger surrounding cities, she thought.

With a fury of motion, Alex flew around to capture each bolt of energy in her hands, and let it crackle through her body. The rush of power was invigorating as she absorbed the energy that had been intended to cause her harm. _Apparently he wasn't aware that all he would be doing is powering me up. That's a useful piece of information to hang on to._ Behind the face plate, Alex smiled lightly. She had the advantage, and that was always a favorable circumstance, she figured.

After capturing a few dozen beams and particle bolts, the crews of the ship must have caught on that their weapons weren't being very effective, and communicated this fact with each other, because they suddenly changed their vector from a strafing type of flight pattern into a very distinctly tactical retreat. They banked and flew as fast as they could towards the majority of the lunatic's fleet, over Kryptonopolis. Alex blasted ahead, rapidly catching up to them.

She angled and turned, sending her hurtling body whirling around them in a pattern similar to how air currents flow over a speeding object. As she did, she aimed her hand at the engines and let the energy coursing through her pour out in a cohesive, compressed beam, which seared its way through the hull of the craft rapidly, gutting the engine from the rest of the craft. Disabled, the assault ship began to fall from the sky, but she dove after it. With a sound of wrenching metal, her fingers pressed into the metallic body of the craft and she guided it to a safe place on top of a nearby building.

The peace keepers and Sagitari that were assembled and waiting when they saw what Alex's intentions were waved in thanks to her as she sped off as soon as the ship was settled onto the roof. If she'd had the time, she would have waved back, or otherwise reciprocated the gesture, but right then, time was something she didn't have much of. There was far too much at stake.

The city rushed by and in the blink of an eye, she'd dispatched the other ship in Argo, and was blazing through the sky towards Kryptonopolis.

X

"Zod's intention is to devastate the capital, and therefore cripple the Supreme Council and Kryptonian government," Astra said as she addressed the Sagitari of the tactical phalanxes she had put together. Their ship was racing towards Kryptonopolis as fast as a vessel could within the atmosphere. Her eyes swept over the assembled faces, and lingered on Miri's face for a moment before she continued, "It's our job to make sure that this _does not_ happen, under _any_ circumstances. Is that understood?"

The Sagitari all responded as one, "Understood, General In Zee." Their voices echoed in the metallic chamber. There was no hesitation, no sign of confusion or conflict. Each person in that chamber had proven, time and again, that their loyalty to Astra was as steady as the rise of Rao in the sky every morning. A certain swell of pride rippled through her, pride in her people, in the Sagitari directly under her command. They were incorruptible, steadfast, and possessed of a singular integrity.

Astra paused and surveyed her Sagitari once more. Finally, she adopted a very formal pose, and took in each assembled soldier. A Lieutenant General approached her as she prepared to speak, and she stepped away from the platform with a com unit in hand. Several moments passed before she handed the unit back to the Lieutenant General, and came to the platform once again.

"Our orders have changed slightly," she said with a serious tone as she smoothed out the nonexistent wrinkles in her uniform. "Our job is to take out the ancillary craft flanking Zod's flagship, and those that are serving as a phalanx to protect Zod and his elite. I've been advised that Krypton's newest ally will be taking on Zod's ship directly, which leaves it to us to make sure that Zod's ship stays isolated. There will be no reoccurrence of what happened several days ago with the Supreme Council transport."

Though there was a bit of confusion, it lasted only a moment, and the columns of soldiers resumed their silence and attention. Astra continued, "No matter how powerful Supergirl may be, we will not leave her unsupported. She is a citizen of Krypton, and she is a protector of Krypton, and she will be regarded as such, and treated as such. If you harbor aggression, fear or distrust of aliens simply on the basis that they are not Kryptonian, you will be relieved of duty, and will not serve in this mission. If you attempt to take contrary action, or encourage contrary action, against our ally, you will be incarcerated and given due trial before the Lawmaker's Guild."

The General let those statements sink in for several moments before she stood at her tallest once more, and caught the attention of every eye in the assembly. "I will _not_ have such division and dissension within the ranks of my division. This is your first, last and only advisement, I will not and should not have to repeat myself. Is this clear?" she finished, watching for any tell tale signs of unrest within the ranks of her troops.

"Clear and understood, General In Zee," responded the assembly as one. There was no deviation in tone, or expression amongst the soldiers as Astra surveyed them. She smiled a slight, but satisfied, smile.

She let a silence linger for a couple of moments, and then called out, "Lieutenant Miri Zan Re, step forward, and hold to attention." Astra had to suppress a slight smirk as the silence was broken by one lone slight inhalation of surprise. The rest of the soldiers remained silent, but she was sure there was rampant curiosity working its way through the rest.

Miri stepped out, her weapon at presentation as was normal, and stood at attention. She was facing the rest of the assembled Sagitari when Astra made her way down to where she was. The General carefully examined her face, looking for any sign of hesitation or other reservation as she held her hands loosely behind her back.

"This was supposed to be formally announced next week, but now is a better time, I think," Astra said as she turned where she was roughly facing both Miri and the assembly. "Your actions in the recent operation convinced the Military Council and the Supreme Council of your convictions and adherence to the law and your duty. You are to be rewarded for service above and beyond the call of duty, and for impeccable merit and service to Krypton. Therefore, _Commander_ Miri Zan Re, you will hand pick a squad from your phalanx to follow you to Zod's flagship, and assist Supergirl with the operation to neutralize the attempted coup."

Miri's soldier face was good, but not _that_ good. Shocked, she watched as Astra removed her Lieutenant's bars, and replaced them with the bars of a Commander. She started to speak, to tell Astra she was simply doing what was both expected and needed of her, nothing more but her mouth wouldn't form the words and work.

"Congratulations, Commander. Select your squad and prep, your jump ship will be leaving in ten minutes, as soon as we cross the city dome border into Kryptonopolis," Astra said, no longer hiding the proud smile that came to her face. The situation was serious, dire even, but even Astra could allow a tiny break down in decorum for the recognition of someone she regarded as closely as she regarded Miri.

Miri was still somewhat in shock, because such a thing was unexpected, and worse, practically unheard of for someone of her age and experience. Yet, Astra had always stood behind her and any decision she made concerning her. She trusted Astra and her judgment, even if she couldn't see whatever it was that Astra saw. "As you command, General In Zee," she responded finally. As soon as she was dismissed, she hurriedly drew out her squad's complement and prepared for their departure.

X

Thunderous impacts rattled the windows on nearby buildings as plasma projectiles impacted with Alex's hands as she caught them and threw them out to the outlands, where their detonation would do little harm. Zod's ship had started firing on her as soon as she was within their visual range. Judging by the severity of the onslaught they presented, Zod had absolutely every intention of destroying her if possible, or at the very least keeping her from preventing him from achieving his goal. He didn't seem to be holding much back, Alex thought.

The shells were hot and live when she caught them, and they burned her palms badly, but as predicted, the injuries were healed before she completed her follow through on each throw. That was something she was still getting used to, even more than the flying, the strength and the energy blasts. Used to it or not, she was thankful for it, because if she couldn't heal like that, she'd have been blasted to atoms quite a while ago.

Around them, the other ships in the core fleet were under attack. The Sagitari were boarding them, and even though she couldn't see what was happening inside them, she could see the effects, she could see the damage the ships were taking from the inside, and the way they were being taken off course and out of threat range of the city. Alex smiled to herself as she caught another plasma projectile. She toyed with the idea of throwing it back at them, but decided against it. It could potentially hurt innocent people either duped or forced into following Zod's mad orders.

Movement caught Alex's attention, and she glanced over to see the Sagitari jump ship paralleling the flagship's course, growing closer to it with every second. _Astra must have sent a team to help me with this, just in case. If she did, then I'm sure they're the elite of her people, which means I'll have less to worry about. I just hope that if Miri's on that ship, she's got the good sense to cover her ass while she's here,_ Alex thought.

While Alex was momentarily distracted, another plasma shell fired at her, bearing on her with deadly speed. The human caught the movement out of the corner of her eye, and looked towards the rocketing shell. She had microseconds to react, and she had a feeling that with being as new to her speed as she was, she may not be able to reach out and catch it fast enough with enough control to prevent it from discharging so close to buildings and people. Her eyes burned behind the sockets, almost like the itch from hay fever, but much more insistent and burning, and energy lanced from her eyes and struck the shell, detonating it a safe distance from everything.

"The discharge from that shell will yield significant energy that will help ensure your reserves, Alex," Jessica's voice echoed in her mind. "By my calculations, at the present rate of your expenditures versus your rate of recharge, you will be down to less than eighteen percent of your so far observed capacity at the conclusion of this conflict, barring any direct conflict requiring greater than observed discharge."

Alex grunted, and retorted back mentally, "I get it, I get it, I need to feed the fire. What happened to you being more user friendly? You sound like Data or something!" As far as Alex was concerned, Jessica had been hanging out with Zor performing experiments and such too much lately. She understood what the computer meant, but that didn't make her delivery any less overly technical. She shot fast into the center of the explosion, and with a deep stretch, she felt the energy siphon into her body, as she absorbed it.

Jessica made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snicker, and retorted, "I consider that a compliment. Though fictional, Data was an extremely well defined artificial intelligence. But, as you wish, the more user friendly version it is." It sounded almost like the computer cleared her throat before boisterously yelling into Alex's mind, "Damn, you go girl! Suck it up and light them up! Boom chaka laka laka! I smell an ass whoopin' comin' on! Get down with your bad self! Beat the shit out of them and when they wake up, tell them they got knocked the _fuck_ out!"

The human literally cringed and gritted her teeth at the sudden explosion of uncouth slang erupting in her thoughts. "Jesus, I think I liked the Data version better! Where the hell did you pick _that_ shit up from?" she demanded as she pointed a hand towards the hatch, and with some of her newly siphoned energy, blasted the door through, exposing the room behind it to the rush of vacuum.

With an almost human tone of sheer smugness, Jessica answered, "Several sources. Ambient conversations between individuals in your age group, the television shows and films of _Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Top Gun, Stripes, Monday Night Raw, Richard Pryor Live on the Sunset Strip,_ and the underrated genius anthology of Ice Cube and Chris Tucker's _Friday_ series, in addition to several interactions you had with diverse members of your peer group. You did specify 'more user friendly' did you not?"

Alex groaned as she watched the Sagitari make their way inside through the opening she provided for them, and shook her head. "Maybe 'user friendly' is a little too much too soon. Let's try for 'user helpful' for the moment, and gradually work our way into 'user friendly.' Sound good?"

There was a moment of silence and then Jessica responded, "By your command." The voice was heavily layered with the robotic voice distortion effects of the Cylons from the original _Battlestar Galactica_ series, complete with the whooshing noise of the red "eye" that slid back and forth over their face plates. In perfect timing, a heartbeat later, Jessica continued with the wheezing snap hiss of Darth Vader's vocoder and deep _basso profondo_ voice as she said, "As you wish."

Alex smacked her hand over her eyes and drew it down slowly over the face plate covering her features as she groaned, "A hundred gazillion self aware sentient computers in the universe, and I have to get the smart ass."

X

"She's coming! The alien will be here within seconds," reported Non with more than a little apprehension in his voice. He obviously was not thrilled with coming into close contact with the super powered alien again, especially when they had no real idea of how to hurt or deter her. She seemed for all intents and purposes invincible, invulnerable.

Ursa glanced between Non and Zod with a concerned expression, and confronted the oddly silent General. "The scientists have gone over every scrap of data we collected on her, and have found nothing useful. We have to prepare to do something before we're no longer able to do anything," she attempted to shake the Kryptonian traitor from his silence.

Zod frowned, and glanced at his two compatriots. "We are not completely helpless," he finally said, letting his voice carry heavily in the chamber. "We still have the innocents we have collected in the small craft hangar. I'm doubtful she will allow any harm to come to them in order to apprehend us."

Both Lieutenant Generals were wondering what exactly Zod was planning. He seemed more than reasonably confident in it, whatever it was. Also, there was the matter of the small black sphere he kept in his hand, absently tossing it, or rolling it about in his palm, the whole time they'd been aboard the flagship. Neither of them could guess at what it might be.

A Primus entered the chamber, and came to attention, as he saluted his superiors. "General Zod, sir," he said, keeping his gaze straight ahead. "We have been boarded by a squad of Sagitari. They are neutralizing our crew, despite the defensive measures we've taken for just such a thing."

"Hmm, the blast that Supergirl caused to detonate close to us must have damaged some ancillary systems that we weren't aware of," Zod said in a quiet, almost dreamlike tone. "Let them come. By the time they get here, they'll be just as powerless as Supergirl will be, if my suspicions are correct."

The Primus was more than simply surprised, but he didn't question the order. Meanwhile, Ursa whirled her head back towards Zod, and started, "Here she—" She was cut off by the sound of the hull imploding and ripping open as Supergirl once again made a rather dramatic entrance.

With a wordless roar of pure hatred, Non leaped over the console he stood behind and launched himself at the alien. In his hands, he held a thick shaft of conduit and swung it at Alex hard, as if he were playing baseball. The conduit struck Alex across the face, and crumpled. Alex's cheek was turning a dark purplish color already, which caused him to smirk. "So you _can_ be hurt after all," he started to crow.

Alex didn't try to suppress the light laugh that briefly spilled from her lips. "So can you," she said as her hand tangled in the front of his shirt faster than he could react. With barely a shrug, she flung him back into the console he'd been standing behind. The equipment erupted in a shower of sparks and crackled loudly as he slid to the floor, groaning in pain.

The Sagitari, led by Miri, poured into the chamber through the open door, as Miri held up a hand to signal them to take positions around the room, but not to interfere with what was going on for the moment. No one questioned her, though she was sure they were uncertain of what was going on behind their face plates.

While Alex was occupied with Non, Ursa flashed forward and stabbed her field knife into Alex's side, puncturing it all the way to the hilt. With a cruel laugh and noise of triumph, she ripped through as much of Alex's body as she could with the blade. Blood started coming from the wound, and the renegade Sagitari practically howled with triumph, "But you're going to hurt more. Much more!" For added effect, she licked some of the blood from the blade, defiantly savoring its taste.

Behind her helmet, Miri gasped, and started to raise her weapon, but held off as Alex stood back up. The blood stopped, and the bruise and the ugly and brutal slash both faded away rapidly, as if they'd never been there. Ursa stared at her in shock, and dropped the knife. When the blood splashed off it, the blade was mangled where she'd pulled it through Alex's tissues.

"Was that supposed to hurt? Oh, right. Ow, ow, ow, ow, shit, damn, ow," she deadpanned as she glared at the would be conquerors. "You'll have to do a little better than that, I'm afraid. So, let's skip all the sweat and tears, and you all surrender peacefully, and you can be in a nice, comfortable detention cell in a couple of hours. It may even be around dinner time when you get settled."

Miri fired her weapon and stunned Ursa hard. The renegade had completely forgotten the Sagitari's presence, and as a result hadn't been paying attention to them. Alex nudged her with her foot, and slid her over to Miri so she could cuff her. Another couple of Sagitari were rounding up and cuffing Non, getting him out of the way as well. While all this was going on, Zod and Alex stood staring at each other.

"Oh, I think not…what is it they're calling you? Supergirl? How droll," he wrinkled his nose contemptuously as they stared one another down. "In either event, _Supergirl,_ I'm afraid I'll be leaving and you'll be having a rather bad day, if I'm correct in my theory."

"What half baked theory is that, Zod?" asked Alex in exasperation, clearly becoming annoyed by the whole affair. All she wanted was to congratulate the Sagitari on their handling of the majority of the ships and stuff, let them arrest the self proclaimed titans and get back home to her family.

"Every sentient being's body uses some manner of energy. It requires it to perform tasks, such as move, or breathe, for example," he started explaining, as he nonchalantly paced a short arc back and forth in front of Alex, casually rolling and tossing the sphere in his hand up and down. "In short, we're simply very complex biological machines. Deprive a machine of power, it ceases to function."

Alex sighed, and unfolded her arms from her chest. She'd had enough. "Okay, enough of the biochemistry and physics lessons. You don't want to be here, I don't want to be here, they don't want to be here, so let's finish this and we can all get back to where we belong," she said as she started advancing on the renegade.

"I fear I have other plans, my dear," smirked Zod as his thumb rolled over the sphere and it began making a low humming whine that got louder. With a casual gesture, he lobbed it at Alex, and started turning around, seemingly unconcerned about being stopped. "May Rao's light guide your way, Supergirl."

Alex tried to stop in mid step, but it didn't matter. The sphere flickered light and it struck her chest. Instead of bouncing off of her, it emitted a high chirp and attached itself to her top. A sharp click was audible, and then Alex felt weak and sick. "What…what's happening?" she asked in confusion and building apprehension.

"You're a bright girl," Zod taunted as he looked over his shoulder with a sadistic smile. "You'll figure it out, assuming you'll have enough bio energy left to power the thought process to deduce your fate. Now, if you all will excuse me…" he smugly announced as he armed a photonic light grenade, and prepared to toss it into the middle of the group.

Alex stumbled and fell to her knees as her complexion grew gray, as if she were a statue of ashes. Everything felt weak, limp and useless. She could feel her lungs trying to shut down, she could feel her entire body rapidly being drained of all her energy. Darkness shrouded her vision, the edges turning black and rapidly closing in on her field of vision. "So…weak…"

Miri gaped in open mouthed horror at what was happening. Supergirl collapsed, turning gray before her eyes. Whatever that thing was that Zod threw at her, she had to take care of it, and right then. Without a thought, she raised her weapon as Zod was arming the grenade, and fired. The beam struck him solidly in the chest, locking up his body, rendering him immobile as it also robbed him of consciousness. As he fell, the grenade clattered to the deck and rolled around. She breathed easier when she saw that he hadn't had the chance to arm it before she'd taken him down.

"Ru, Em, secure Zod and transport him to the jump ship!" Miri cried out as she slid to Supergirl's side. "The rest of you make sure the way is clear. We've got to get her out of here, and fast. We need to find out what the hell this thing is and what it's doing. _Move!_ "

The squad immediately snapped into action. The two secured Zod and made sure he wasn't going anywhere but where they took him and started moving him to the jump ship and its containment chamber. The rest fanned out and secured the path back to the jump ship, making sure that their prisoner's transport wasn't interfered with, and that the path to help Supergirl would be clear. One of the troops moved towards the cockpit to disengage the auto pilot, presumably, and prepare the ship for impounding.

With a grunt, Miri stood and lifted Alex up and over her shoulder. She secured her unconscious package in a fireman's carry and started taking her down the path to the jump ship. As soon as they were aboard, she settled Alex down and punched up communications. "General In Zee, this is Commander Re. Zod and his compatriots have been secured, but Zod did something to Supergirl. She needs help, _immediately._ Please advise," she said rapidly into the com, trying to keep the fear for the alien ally's life out of her voice, but to little avail.

Astra's voice came back almost immediately, hard edged and obviously worried, "Get her to the Science Guild complex right now, Re, do you understand? Have them make sure that Jor El is called. He'll have the best idea of what's happening. Do not let _anyone_ else assess her until Jor El is there. Am I understood?"

If the situation hadn't been so dire, she would have wondered about the very specific instructions, and the very specific choice of scientist to examine the unconscious alien. As things were, all she had on her mind was saving the life of the person that had saved hers, and many others, only days ago. "Understood General," she replied.

The buildings rushed by in a blur as the pilot broke every speed law in the book and rushed towards the Science Guild complex. Miri called ahead and let them know what was going on. According to them, Jor El would be waiting when they landed. She only hoped that Alex and Kara's uncle would have some clue of how to help the alien visitor.


	19. Chapter 19

_**Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Earth**_

 **Chapter 19**

Jor El was finishing up with the journal on a project he and several others of the Science Guild were working on when he heard loud voices and what sounded like rapid footsteps, footsteps with a sound remarkably like panic and desperation echoing in the hall beyond the lab doors. He paused in his data entry and glanced towards the door. The scientist expected the commotion to die down in a couple of moments, and the sounds surrounding him to return to normal. Scientists could be a highly excitable bunch when something remarkable was being discovered, and that's what his assumption was at that moment.

As he turned back towards the computer terminal, the doors to his lab burst open and a winded and seemingly panicked woman entered, panting and breathing heavily. Jor El recognized her, though he couldn't recall her name at the moment. She was the head of the Advanced Astrophysics department, which was housed between his lab and the Medical department. Harried, she tried to catch her breath as she spoke, "Jor El, you need to come with me to the roof. It's an emergency, a dire one!"

Jor El frowned, confused, and now he was concerned. Still not quite comprehending this odd turn of events, he turned towards the woman, and asked, "The roof? What's happened? What's wrong?" When he worked, the man usually kept himself in seclusion to minimize the chance of distraction and interruption, so things going on outside the lab usually waited until he had stopped working for the evening before he became aware of it. "Why in Rao's name would you need _me_ on the roof?"

The woman was older, and had run all the way back to Jor El's lab, so she was breathing heavily. She stooped over, and had her hands on her knees, trying to coax as much air into her strained lungs as she could. Breathlessly, she explained, "Zod attempted an attack on the Supreme Council and Central Government Center, an attempted coup. The Sagitari intervened, of course, with the assistance of the alien, Supergirl. Commander Miri Zan Re alerted us that Supergirl had been seriously injured and that General Astra In Zee asked for you, _specifically,_ to assess her condition and to lead the attempt to help her. Supergirl's condition is critical, and dire, and my guess is that the problem isn't entirely a medical issue."

At the mention of Alex, Jor El immediately started moving more quickly. He grabbed several instruments and hurriedly put them into a satchel as he moved around the counter, and took hold of the woman's shoulder. "This is indeed serious," he commented as he urged the woman to escort him to the roof and to the side of the alien ally. "Every second we delay could be catastrophic, so let's hurry. I don't intend to let our protector fall at the hands of a madman like Zod."

X

There was a large crowd of scientists and technicians assembled on the roof of the Science Guild Complex as the transport ship approached. Miri kept shifting her vision from the roof to Supergirl and back again, over and over. She could feel her adrenaline spiking, and the unyielding urge to go faster was growing stronger and stronger. She kept Supergirl's hand in hers, giving it a squeeze. The flesh of the alien's hand had gone grayer and was growing a pasty white, as would the flesh of a corpse. The instruments on the field med chamber indicated she was still breathing and her heart was still beating, barely.

"We're almost there, Supergirl," Miri spoke urgently but quietly into the hero's ear. "Hold on, you've got to keep fighting. We're getting you help. Listen to my voice, follow it, and let me help you stay with us." She watched the alien's body, hoping for some sort of movement, some sort of sign that she was aware of what Miri had just said.

Miri had never spoken with the visitor from a far and distant planet, she'd never met her for her to even know Miri's name. Despite the fact that they were strangers that encountered each other in the same room from opposite sides, Miri felt a compulsion, a need, to stay with Supergirl, to try to keep her fighting until they could get to the Science Guild building. Supergirl had saved her life, and hundreds of other lives just days ago. Powers or not, she'd selflessly put herself between everyone on that transport and the crazed fanatics that had put them in danger. She had stood against them and kept them from harming anyone. For that, there was no doubt in Miri's mind that she was exactly what Astra had called her, a protector of Krypton and her people, and she'd be damned to every ring of Hell itself before she'd allow the insane bastard and his machinations snuff out the light that Supergirl was quickly becoming in the eyes and hearts of Krypton.

Looking over her shoulder, her expression was hard lined and resolute and she said, "Em, interrogate Zod. Find out what the hell this thing is, what it does, and how to disarm and detach it from Supergirl. I want to know _right now_ or as Rao is my witness, I'll reach down his throat and drag the answers out kicking and screaming myself."

The Sagitari acknowledged the order and left to carry that order out with all due haste. Despite her extremely young age, Miri was his Commander, and the officer actively in charge. Like all Sagitari and Military Guild members, he followed the chain of command as it was without question, unless there was something worthy of questioning. In this situation, there was no question of any kind, only the efficient and immediate execution of Miri's orders.

Most would resent so young a girl, a girl barely graduated from school and inducted into the Military Guild and the Sagitari, being promoted so quickly and be giving orders of this magnitude. However, like them, she was a member of General Astra In Zee's elite division. General Astra had promoted her and given her the responsibility, and none in her division would question the intent or the decision of giving such a young and untried girl her position and rank. Given Astra's own record and renown, and the vast respect she received as one of the finest Generals to ever hold the rank in the Sagitari, the thought of opposing the idea would fall flat. Despite her very young age, Miri had proven herself often enough and well enough that the rest of the division recognized the reasons she had been given the responsibilities she held.

Miri's eyes moved to the screens showing Supergirl's present status, and her expression grow grimmer. If the instruments were interpreting her alien physiology correctly, her condition was getting worse by the second. If they couldn't find a way to get that contraption off of her, disarm it, and reverse her condition, the Shield of Krypton, as the media had started calling her, would die. That was a fact, a fact that Miri Zan Re swore to Rao would _not_ happen, not if she had any means to keep it from happening. Her fingers curled around Supergirl's hand again, surprised at how chilled the alien's skin was to her touch.

X

"Alex, can you hear me? Alex!" Jessica repeated several times. The sphere she had transformed herself into swirled with rapidly shifting colors, mostly agitated looking colors. "Something's wrong. I can't hear her, and the connection is growing weaker by the minute," the AI said, her voice sounding both concerned and irritated at the same time.

Kara's attention darted to the sphere suddenly and she frowned, "'You can't hear her?' What does that mean? What's wrong?" Kara could feel the anxiety rising in her as surely as the ocean did during the time of the high tides. It wasn't a feeling she enjoyed by any means. The AI was physically there, in the room with Kara, but it had been communicating with Alex psionically, using her mask as an interface and amplifier.

The sphere pulsed with color and light as the voice changed slightly, the emotional edge that seemed to saturate the tone was growing almost panicked. "The link between my interface and her mind is almost completely severed. There's a sensation of being almost…burned out, as if something has either severely damaged the technology and rendered it all but useless or…" the computer trailed off as its lights flashed and pulsed with frenetic energy.

Kara grabbed the sphere up in a rapid lunge, holding it as if she could stare into its eyes and read its expression. "Or what? Is Alex all right? Is she hurt, dying, what's happening?" the Kryptonian blurted. She was trying to keep herself under control, to stay calm, but it seemed like not only was Alex in danger, but she was in _extreme_ danger. The urge, the need, to be with her, to somehow try to help her, was raging inside Kara like a violent stellar explosion.

The AI's voice was somber as the lights sparkled in rapidly shifting bursts of color within the sphere, "Or something has completely and totally drained all the energy, _all_ of it, from the technology… _and_ Alex."

Kara's face turned stark white as the blood fled from her features and shock washed over her like a tidal wave. Her heart felt like it skipped several beats before it stuttered back into motion, though it couldn't really be considered any sort of rhythm. "Oh, by the light of Rao…" she whispered softly. For Kara, it felt as if the entire universe had just imploded upon itself.

X

Jor El practically exploded onto the rooftop through the door just as the transport ship was touching down on the stark gray colored material that comprised the building material. Loud voices were calling out, overlapping and intermingling with each other as the door of the craft opened. He pushed his way through the large crowd of fellow scientists and other people clustered near the ship's hatch.

As he finally made his way through the throng and to the open spot at their center, Sagitari were guiding a medical evacuation gurney, powered by antigravity projectors, through the door. The first sight of Supergirl shocked him; it hit him like a bolt of lightning. Her skin was an ashen gray and pasty white. There was either very little movement of her chest, or absolutely none. It was hard to determine from that distance. She appeared to be either dead, or extremely close. The young Sagitari that Astra was so fond of was there beside her as the gurney was guided out of the ship, a tenacious sentinel that would not be parted from her charge until she was forced or Rao himself breathed life and health back into the rapidly failing body of the alien protector.

"This way!" yelled Jor El as he motioned manically for the surrounding people to part so they could guide the gurney through. "We're taking her to my isolation lab, and no one is to come in without my express and explicit authorization." He grabbed the foot of the gurney and started rapidly tugging it behind him towards the door, with the Sagitari accompanying it rushing to keep pace with the scientist.

The stark and secure lab door opened and admitted the gurney with the young defender of Krypton brief moments that felt like an agonizingly long millennia later. He immediately activated the equipment around it, and from a tray he started sorting out several small tools and other devices as he took his first look at the black sphere attached to the front of Supergirl's bodysuit. The device seemed simplistic from the outside, but he was sure that there was far more to it than met the eye on the inside.

Jor El felt, rather than saw, the presence in the room with him and his niece, and he looked up to see Miri there, seemingly staring at the comatose body of Alex. He frowned and tilted his head as he asked, "It's Commander Re, isn't it?"

The young officer nodded wordlessly, never taking her eyes off the form of Supergirl lying on the gurney. She made no move to speak, or to leave the room, or do much of anything else. Her feet were firmly planted where she stood.

Jor El cleared his throat, and put his hands down on the edges of the gurney as he regarded her seriously. "My dear, I'm going to have to insist that you vacate the room, and allow me to work," he said in a gentle tone, though insistent. "Not only do I need the room and lack of distraction to examine and safely deactivate this device, we also need to respect Supergirl's privacy. There's a reason she wears this faceplate, I'm sure."

Miri looked up at him for the first time since they entered the room, and shook her head. "With all deserved and due respect, sir," she said as her features solidified into the consummate soldier. "I won't, but more than that, I _can't._ My squad was there to back her up, I was there to back her up…and I failed. It's my fault that she's here, that this happened. I knew Zod well enough that he had to have come up with some crazy theory about how to hurt her, but I allowed myself to relax my guard because I thought she had it under control. So when he threw this at her, I'd let my assurance that she could handle it slow my response, and I was too late. I don't care who she is under the faceplate. She saved my life, and I have to make sure that she pulls through this. I owe her that much, at the very least." Her tone was absolutely respectful, it was simply colored with the integrity that she believed without question that she was truly responsible.

The door had slid open and closed as the conversation was going on, though neither had looked towards the door. A voice quietly spoke behind Miri, "It's not your fault, Commander Re. None of us are oracles or prophets. She knew the risk going in, just as you did. It's her job to take such risks, just as it's yours. Even if any of us were able to see the future and knew that all of this was going to happen, she would _still_ have done exactly the same thing, she would have put herself between the danger they represented and the rest of us, regardless of the danger she herself would have been in. It's simply who she is. You're not to blame here, so please, honor Supergirl's privacy and Jor El's request." Astra strode further into the room, and stopped at Miri's side.

The young officer didn't move, beyond nodding softly. Her eyes never left the prone body of Supergirl, even as Jor El began running scans on the device responsible for all of what was happening at that moment. She closed her eyes a moment, took a deep breath and softly replied, "It was my duty to help her, to watch her back as she watched ours. Even heroes need help sometimes, even Supergirl, and I didn't pull my weight and perform my duty to the best of my ability, or we wouldn't be here."

Astra turned and lightly gripped the Commander's shoulders as she turned her to face her. Once their eyes met, she captured her gaze and refused to let it go as she responded, "Commander Re…Miri…having seen the kind of person she is through her actions, heard it in her voice when she addressed the Supreme Council, I honestly and truly doubt she'd agree with you. I believe she'd be the first to tell you that there was no way you could have known, and it would be physically impossible for _any_ Kryptonian to react fast enough to have prevented this from happening, that it would be impossible even for you."

Miri didn't speak, and the deep dimples that her cheeks held while smiling were nowhere to be seen as her expression was at that moment. There was not even a hint of their existence. Astra had never seen her face that somber before. The young woman remained motionless, but her face seemed to grow even heavier as Astra spoke.

Astra glanced up at Jor El, and then wrapped her arm lightly around Miri's shoulders. "Come on," she said quietly, giving Miri's shoulders a light squeeze. "Let's let Jor El work, without distraction, and give him some room. Zor El is on his way from Argo City as well. If anyone can help Supergirl, it's Jor El and Zor El."

Miri didn't resist when Astra turned her back towards the door and exited the room with her. Jor El sighed in relief. He could imagine the conflict and pain that Miri was feeling, her worry over the person who had, just days ago, saved her and hundreds of others, and feeling completely and totally helpless and powerless to do the same. All the same, he was trying to protect both her and Alex from the dangers that could come if Miri found out who was behind the faceplate. With luck, maybe Zor El would arrive very soon, and they could figure this out and get Alex back on her feet before Miri became suspicious, considering how close the two had grown lately.

X

"I think this is going to work," said Zor El as he activated the energy projectors that he and Jor El had set up around Alex to bathe her in the energy she needed to regain her strength and consciousness. "We just need to feed her energy slowly. We don't want to shock her system, especially after being so severely drained."

Jor El ran his hand back through his hair and nodded as he massaged his neck, trying to relieve the cramp he'd developed while they worked. "That was a stroke of genius, Zor," he said with a light smile as he came to his brother's side. "Using a method so archaic and primitive to incapacitate the device, and then dismantle it while it was dormant, that was something that never occurred to me. I don't think anybody has used an electromagnetic pulse field for anything in centuries. I was surprised we could rig the energon capacitor to actually emit one."

Zor double checked the instruments, and seemed satisfied with the readings. Alex was absorbing energy at a safe rate, and was retaining it. There was some minor tissue damage from the device, but it had already healed perfectly. He chuckled and regarded his brother, "I don't know if it was genius or not, but it worked, that's the important thing, and we did it together. We can be alerted if anything changes or happens, so it should be safe to let everyone know that the dangerous part is over. Now it's just recovery."

"That might be a good idea. I imagine Alura, Astra, Kara, Lara and Kal El are all probably on edge," replied Jor El as he set up alert thresholds on the computer. "The trick is just letting them know that Alex is okay, without someone getting suspicious and wondering why they're so concerned, and where Alex is."

The two brothers left the lab with the energy emitters slowly but steadily feeding Alex energy. They calculated it'd probably be an hour or two before she regained consciousness, so that left the brothers time to actually prepare their families.

X

Jor El and Zor El had come back with good news, wonderful news actually, about Supergirl. Miri felt the weight of a thousand worlds slowly lift off her shoulders as she listened to them. The device had siphoned off energy, including bioelectric energy, like a sponge, and because Supergirl's powers and very life depended on her biological energy, it had been killing her. That was something she hoped that Zod would think failed, and that no one else would think of it.

The news seemed to lift everyone, and it was like the vigil that uncounted numbers of people had been holding suddenly turned into a waiting game. Miri was definitely happy to hear it, and was thankful for the work that Jor El and Zor El had done, but she still felt as if she owed Supergirl something. An apology, maybe, or a thank you, or both even. Maybe even it might be something else. All she knew is that whatever it was, she needed to say it and get it said before it ate her alive on the inside.

There came a point in the conversation where the others were so involved with talking with each other and answering questions that Miri just sort of faded into the background of everyone's thoughts and attention. When Miri noticed this, she quietly slipped away, following the course her impulse and compulsion led her on.

She found herself stealthily making her way back to the lab where Supergirl was recuperating, and she paused at the door. _Should I actually go in, and probably catch a thousand lectures at the very least, if not something much more severe, or should I wait until they say it's okay to check in on her? Normally, I'd wait, but this is too important, for both Supergirl and me. This has to get said, or I'm going to go absolutely crazy._

Miri took a deep breath and then took the plunge. She activated the opening mechanism and stepped through the door, letting it close behind her. Supergirl lay on the gurney still, bathed in highly concentrated light and energy, and apparently still out cold. The readings were steadily improving, though, she saw. She knew enough about science and medicine to figure that much out, at least.

Miri grabbed a stool from the other side of the room and moved it over next to the gurney and sat down, just watching the alien, getting lost in her own thoughts. _What am I going to say? How am I going to approach this? "Oh, hey, Supergirl, I know you're really feeling like shit right about now, and recovering from a near death experience, but I just wanted to sit here and stare at you until you wake up, and then say thank you." Yeah, that should go over well. She'll think I'm some sort of crazed stalker, probably. And I don't know what this thing is, really, with me and Alex, but whatever it is, would she flip her lid knowing I'm sitting here staring at the Shield of Krypton? I'm surprised she's not here too, or if she is, I didn't see her with Kara, which is definitely unusual._

Miri was shaken from her thoughts by a low, soft groan that escaped Supergirl's lips. The alien was stirring slightly, her movements very sluggish and she sounded very groggy. Given what had happened to her, this didn't surprise Miri at all. She was surprised she was even awake, after everything that had happened.

"Oh, my head," said Supergirl in English as she reached her hands up to her face to rub her palms over it and push her hair back only to encounter the foreign texture of the face plate. "Kara? Where are you? How did I get back…?" she mumbled, still in English. It was obvious that Supergirl had one hell of a headache, if her motions were any indication.

Miri didn't understand her words; she didn't even recognize the language that the alien was speaking, so she figured it had to be her native tongue from her home world. She turned her attention sharply to the alien, even more sharply than she'd already been doing, when Alex mumbled Kara's name. Her brows furrowed sharply and she tilted her head. "Um, uh…hi. Supergirl? Did you say 'Kara?' Kara's here. She's out with the others," she finally said in confusion. She could feel her pulse racing, and that weird prickly feeling you get when you are absolutely sure something is about to happen, and not likely to be something good.

Alex groaned softly, and let her head fall back to the pillow. She opened her eyes and saw Miri through the faceplate she wore. Her head felt like it was full of cotton, and some little guy beating on the inside of her skull with a really _big_ hammer. She snapped a bit more to attention and reverted back to Kryptonian, "Mi—uh, I mean Lieutenant…? What happened? What did you say about Kara? I'm sorry; I didn't hear you very well. My head is pounding."

Tilting her head, Miri's curiosity was definitely piqued now. She pulled the bars on her collar forward a bit more so Supergirl could see them. "It's me, yes, but it's Commander Re now. Zod managed to attach a device to you that sucked away all of your energy, including your bio energy. You were in a coma, and fading fast. General Astra ordered me to get you to the Science Guild complex, and to have Jor El come and assess your condition, and work with you to get you back on your feet," she said, studying Supergirl intently. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, exactly, but whatever it was, she was looking hard.

"Commander? Congratulations, Commander," Alex said groggily as she tried to sit up, but immediately lay back once more as her head pounded worse, and she felt a harsh wave of nausea rush over her. "The Science Guild and Jor El, you said? I'll have to thank him when he comes back." She smiled lightly though she was sure Miri couldn't see it, and reached a much healthier colored hand out to touch the Sagitari's briefly. "I'm sure I've got you to thank as well. Thank you, Commander Re."

Miri reflexively covered Supergirl's hand with her own as she shifted her position and met with the faceplate the alien wore. "You're welcome, and then some. Umm…you mentioned Kara. As in Kara Zor El? I wasn't aware you knew any of General Astra's family," she probed, wondering what it was that was making her investigative instincts kick in. "How do you know Kara?"

Alex blinked several times behind the faceplate and let out a soft groan that wasn't entirely inspired by the grogginess and dullness she felt at that moment. "Kara? Yeah, I know—she was one of the hostages on the Supreme Council transport a few days ago. She um, she thanked me and introduced herself later. After it was all over. After I left. Later," she stumbled over words, as her brain wasn't moving as fast as it usually did.

"That makes sense," replied Miri softly. It actually did. It's not like saving the transport was the only time Supergirl had been seen, therefore it was entirely likely, even probable, that she'd encountered Kara again at some point. She smiled lightly and patted Supergirl's hand. "How are you feeling now?" she asked.

Alex saw large colorful swirls meandering in her vision, and felt like she was sinking into a swimming pool of cotton candy. "Uh…tired…sleep…going now…time to sleep. Sleepy," she answered groggily. She obviously wasn't back to a hundred percent yet, and she was correspondingly weak and tired. Thankfully she was growing stronger though.

Miri looked back over her shoulder towards the door, and then back at Supergirl. "That's not a bad idea. Get some rest, and I'll try and check in on you later. I'd better get back out there before they realize I'm gone," she said as she started to stand up. She was glad to see that the alien was getting better. That relieved a lot of pressure on her mind.

Alex rolled back and forth slowly, and mumbled, "Sleepy…go sleep…dream…Miri dream with me…want dream…" she rambled before finally slipping into unconsciousness once more. The words she spoke weren't lost on Miri, and once again, she was finding herself thinking that something just wasn't adding up somewhere. It felt like she might even know the answer, but she couldn't seem to quite catch the idea and hold it. It was like her mind was automatically rejecting whatever possibility was rolling around in her head.

After watching Supergirl a few more moments as she drifted into a deep sleep, Miri slipped out of the lab and headed back to the common room where everyone was, and hoped that no one had noticed that she had been gone.


	20. Chapter 20

_**Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Earth**_

 **Chapter 20**

"Where exactly have you been, Miri?" asked the voice of Astra from behind her as Miri made her way back to where everyone had been while she had snuck off to check in on Supergirl. The voice of the General was firm, and had a very no nonsense tone to it. There was no mistaking that she was less than pleased, and that was an understatement.

 _Oh, shit. Well, it's not like I wasn't expecting it. It was worth it, though. Supergirl's okay, or at least will be, it seems,_ thought Miri as she froze in mid step. She'd heard Astra take that tone before, but never had it been quite as sharp with her, not until now. She didn't move a muscle for several seconds before slowly turning around to come face to face with a very stern faced Astra. "General In Zee, ma'am," she said slowly, her voice taking on a very contrite tone. "I was…well, I know I was told to leave the lab and let Jor and Zor El work with Supergirl, but I owe her a debt, and had to at least say thank you and see how she was. She saved my life, ma'am, and that was the least I thought I could do in the circumstances."

Astra's face was impassive, giving no clue whatsoever about what was going on behind the harshly appraising gaze she was sending Miri's way. Silence lingered between the two of them for long moments, and finally Astra nodded slowly. "You felt compelled to do so, because of honor, and what it means to be a warrior, then?" she asked, as her eyes didn't move a millimeter from Miri's eyes. "You feel a connection, a kinship, to her because she, like you, is a warrior, and protects Krypton and her people?" She was gauging Miri with every glance and question, attempting to determine what Miri did know, and what she didn't know.

Miri considered the words and nodded softly as she answered, "Yes, General In Zee, all you have said is true. Supergirl…the Shield of Krypton…is a valued and trusted ally. She deserves the proper honor accorded to her. She may not be Kryptonian by birth or blood, but she is no less Kryptonian than I am in heart and spirit. She faces immeasurable danger on our behalf every time she takes on a crisis, how could I not at the very least check on her status? She very nearly died, in service and protection of Krypton."

Astra silently considered the young Commander. She believed every word that Miri said, she had no question in her mind that Miri could possibly be lying to her, or that she would. Yet, something seemed off about her. She was much more fidgety than she would normally be, and she held a tiny degree of hesitation in her voice. Astra had never known Miri to fidget or hesitate when given an order, or when questioned. However, here she was, and Astra knew she needed to get to the bottom of it quickly. "But there's something else too, isn't there? Something else that has you concerned, or that you feel is a little off kilter, perhaps?"

The young officer paused, considering her words carefully before she answered. Despite all her training to the contrary when addressing a superior officer, especially one of Astra's rank and stature, she surveyed the area around them to make sure they were alone, and she dropped her voice to barely more than a whisper, "There is something, yes." She paused a moment longer and met Astra's eyes. "Supergirl spoke while I was with her. She was very groggy and definitely not to herself, but she mentioned your niece Kara."

When Astra simply maintained their eye contact silently, Miri pressed on, "Then, as she was slipping back into sleep, she said she wanted to dream, that it was time to dream, and she said she wanted me to dream with her. She used my name, and we've never been introduced, and to the best of my knowledge, there's no way she could know my name." The unasked question was evident in her tone and inflection.

Astra gave no outward sign of it, but inside she was slowly letting her entire being slowly settle, as if breathing out a heavy sigh. Miri was smart, and attentive. These were qualities that made her the fine officer she was, and it also was proving to be a rather sizable pain in her ass at the moment. She continued to silently gaze at the Commander a moment before she finally spoke, keeping her tone neutral, "In light of this, are you suggesting that Supergirl is someone that you're acquainted with, or know? Perhaps that she is someone familiar with all of us in some way? Is that what you're suggesting?"

Miri's voice grew quieter, but her answer was almost immediate on the tail of Astra's question, "Yes, General, I am." She made sure they were alone again, and kept her voice very quiet as she continued, "I believe she's someone very close to us in some way. Please understand, I would never breathe a word of this to _anyone,_ no matter how close to me they are, or how well they know me. I absolutely respect her privacy, and besides her name isn't my secret to tell anyone. I could be wrong, and if I am, I am, but I am almost certain that she's Alex."

 _Not only is she smart and attentive, but she's observant and clever as well, but I knew that already. I don't know what to say, really. As she said, Alex's identity isn't my secret to tell either. I'll leave that decision in Alex's hands,_ thought Astra as she paused, watching the young woman's face for a moment. She had no doubts that Miri meant precisely what she said, she wasn't worried about that. What did concern her was how this would affect the interaction and relationship she had with Miri, and Miri's relationship with the others in her family, especially Alex.

A light flashed on Astra's com and she pushed a button to confirm. She reached up and touched Miri's back with a motherly hand and nudged her to walk with her back into the lab. Miri wasn't sure what to think between the silence, and the sudden urging to walk with her. She fervently hoped she hadn't stepped across some line, but if she had, she was sure Astra would have made that well known by then.

X

Alex's eyes flickered open again, and the light hit her like a supernova going off in her face. She groaned and covered her eyes. "Jessica, mask down," she said in a scratchy voice as she rolled to her side. She felt too weak to reach up and hit the control to do it manually, so she was hoping the AI was still with her. She coughed harshly a couple of times, and curled up into more of a ball. The energy she was being bathed in felt good, but she knew she was far from capacity as yet.

"Alex, you don't know how wonderful it is to hear you again!" exclaimed the AI in obvious delight, a little too obvious for Alex's poor brain at that moment. "We were beginning to fear the worst. The news we were getting from Kara's father and uncle wasn't definitive, and it was made clear you weren't in exactly the best shape. Are you feeling better? Kara would like to speak to you if that would be all right with you?"

Despite the pain lancing through her head, she smiled lightly. She was just glad she was still alive to feel the pain at the moment. "I missed you too, Jessica," replied Alex, as she winced once more from the pain throbbing in her skull. "I'm feeling, so I must be feeling better. Yes, that'd be fine if Kara spoke with me. More than fine, actually." She let herself slump back onto her back as the lights dimmed. She guessed the computer that controlled them had read her movement to shield her eyes and compensated.

Barely a second later, Kara's voice came across the link. "Alex? We were worried about you, all of us. I'd have come and seen you, but we didn't want to rouse suspicion by all of us coming to see you at different times. I'm so glad you're okay…relatively speaking. I don't know what I would have done if something had happened…" she trailed off quietly. It was really weird, hearing the usually bubbly and sunny Kara being so somber and worried. Alex felt terrible for taking that brightness away from her, even for just a moment.

"Hey, shhh now, let's not think like that, all right? It was close, yes, I admit that, but I'm still here, alive and kicking," Alex replied in what she hoped was a more bright and cheerful voice than what she was feeling. "I'm not going anywhere, and nothing's going to happen to me, Kara. I'm here because of what you've shown me since the day I got here: stronger together." She paused, and then she felt the smile growing on her face as she continued, "Besides, if something happened to me, who would you have to kick the shit out of people for when they were being bullied?"

Kara laughed, despite the tears that had welled up in her eyes from the intensely emotional past few hours. The day of the fight at school years ago was still vivid in her mind, and even though it wasn't the sort of thing her parents wanted her to do, she was still extremely proud of how she'd stood up for her older sister for once, instead of letting Alex pretend that it didn't bother her, when Kara knew that deep inside it did. Alex was so tough and strong, and the face she presented to the world was that she could handle anything and something as petty and stupid as being bullied by a bunch of spoiled punks would never bother her, but Kara knew different. Kara knew that despite the tough act, Alex was very sensitive and caring on the inside. Kara knew few people that loved as deeply and strongly as Alex did.

"That actually was kind of fun, putting them in their place, I have to admit that," replied Kara with the tone of laughter still evident in her voice. Her voice turned serious once more, "But seriously, Alex, doing what you do, helping protect all of Krypton like you do, it's dangerous, sometimes a lot more than simply dangerous. You're my sister; you're part of me now, as I hope I'm part of you. If I lost you, it'd be like losing the best part of myself."

Alex felt a rush of emotion listening to Kara. Her whole family had been wonderful, always had been, but she and Kara had an incredible, inexplicable bond between them that transcended anything else. Alex hated scaring Kara like she knew she must have. "Of course you're part of me. You're the absolute best and most wonderful part of me, Kara. Without you in my life, I'd be a much, much different person," she said quietly as she tried to shift her position to get more comfortable. "I'm sorry I scared you, that I scared all of you. It hurts me to think of the pain you all must have felt, and the fear, when you heard what was happening. I would never do that purposefully. But I do what I do because it's necessary, it's important, and more, protecting Krypton means protecting _you_ , my sister."

Kara was silent for a few seconds, and Alex wondered if something had happened, and Jessica's link with her had gone dark. Just as she was about to ask if she was there, Kara answered, "I know what you do is important and necessary, Alex. It's just my instinct to protect you, like you protect me, and the rest of Krypton. Family always wants to protect each other, even if they don't really need protection."

That was very true, Alex thought. Though she knew full well that Kara and her family weren't actually _her_ family, Alex loved them as if they were all the same. They'd always been there for her when her own family couldn't be. "I know you do, and I feel the same way. Listen, everything's okay and I'll be able to come home pretty soon, so your dad and Jor El say. I'm just glad I'm still here to be protected by you, you know?"

X

Alex and Kara were just saying good night until Alex was able to come home when the door to the lab opened. Jor El had told her that no one but he, Zor El, and Astra were supposed to be coming in, so she wasn't too concerned when she heard the door. She turned her head towards it, expecting to ask Jor or Zor when she'd be able to leave when her eyes met Miri's and her jaw dropped.

"Holy shit!" Alex exclaimed as she punched frantically at the button to raise the mask once more, but she couldn't seem to hit it. She could hear Kara frantically asking what happened in her ear and everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Alex jerked her head around to try and hide her face, but she knew that the damage had already been done. She'd given Miri plenty long enough to see her face, shocked expression and all.

Miri came quickly to her side and took her hand in her own, and gave it a squeeze, "Hey, El, its okay. I knew before I came in here." Bending, she took Alex's cheeks in her hands and kissed her passionately, but softly.

Their lips touched, and Alex once more felt that explosion of emotion blasting within her. There was that rush and surge of adrenaline, the shortness of breath, and the unbearable heat of being flushed with the excitement of feeling Miri's lips once more. Her entire body seemed to tingle, almost like she was bathing in lightning which arced around her more and more as the contact between them went on.

Miri felt herself getting lost in the kiss. Part of it was the fact she was glad to see that Alex was okay, and was going to be even better soon. Part of it was also the fact that Alex had almost died, and as a result she'd almost lost her. Miri couldn't even think such a thought, it was so terrifying. She'd just found Alex, and knew she couldn't lose her so soon afterwards. The pair of them seemed to be suspended in time and space, living out that one single moment for years and years.

After what felt like eons compressed into the space of about a minute, the two girls parted lips and tried to regain their breaths as they looked at each other with silent but intense gazes. Alex's hand came up to brush her fingertips lightly over the rounded, heavily dimpled cheek of the Sagitari standing over her. She'd never seen anything so beautiful in her life, she felt.

She glanced up at Astra, then back at Miri, and back to Astra. "You knew?" she asked, wondering what prompted her to bring Miri into the room. Did she know how she felt about Miri, and apparently how Miri felt about her? Was it a calculated gamble?

Astra's face remained as unreadable as a rock and she nodded once slowly. "I did," she said simply as she watched her niece's face undergo many rapid transformations as her expression changed.

Alex felt like something had struck her in the chest, knocking the wind from her, but in a good way. She couldn't believe this was happening, but part of her was glad that it was. The dodging questions, improvised explanations and such were finally over. "You told her?" she asked Astra once more, still caressing Miri's face as Miri was busily rubbing her thumb over the back of Alex's hand that she held in hers.

Astra shook her head, her expression remaining the same. "No. She figured it out the same way Alura, Kara and I figured it out," she responded. She wasn't giving Alex any sort of clue or ammunition and inside she was feeling joy for Alex, but she thought it'd be cute to get her stirred up for a moment. "Now, the two of you should figure it out a bit further yourselves, I think. And for the record, you both have the entire family's blessing."

With that, Astra smiled finally, gave a little wave with her fingers, and turned to exit the room, leaving the two girls alone. The door hissed shut behind her, and the silence was like a vacuum.

Alex looked down her own body and at Miri's hand holding hers, and then finally up into the soldier's eyes. Her own expression was concerned, worried that there was a problem that had found its way between them. "Are you…are you mad, Miri? Mad that I didn't tell you?" she asked finally in a hoarse voice.

Neither of them was sure of what, exactly, to classify their relationship as. They'd been spending a lot of time together since that night when they first kissed. Things had happened so fast, a whirlwind of feelings and thoughts racing around in both of their heads. Whatever it would ultimately be classified as, it seemed as though it had a very profound impact on them both.

Miri looked down at her and kissed the inside of Alex's palm and wrist as she replied, "No, of course not. As much as I hate deception, I understand why you did so, and it was a damned good reason, so no, of course I'm not mad." She kissed Alex's lips again softly, and winked a mischievous eye at the injured girl. "What you do is dangerous enough, but when you make enemies like Zod and his bunch, it becomes not only dangerous for you, but also for those you care about and love. If I'd been in your place, I'd have kept it a secret too. Besides, how could I be mad for kissing Supergirl?"

Alex felt a huge wave of relief wash over her when Miri said she wasn't mad. Despite herself, she smiled at Miri's words. "Well, Supergirl wants some more kisses, so keep 'em coming, Sagitari," she said, laughing softly, and wincing slightly from the pain. Her hands rose to cup Miri's cheeks and she pressed her lips against the Sagitari's, kissing softly, but a lingering and deep kiss. All felt right with the universe as long as they were together, and Alex was going to bask in that ecstasy as long as she could.

Several intense, deep kisses later, both girls decided to catch their breaths, and Miri pulled up a chair and sat beside Alex, still holding her hand. There were several moments of silence before Miri finally spoke. "I've got something I want to tell you, Alex, but I don't know how, really. It's not…I don't do this sort of thing, it's not my way, but you, El, make me break all the rules, even my own."

Alex furrowed her brows slightly for a moment and regarded the young woman beside her. "Don't worry about it being your way, or not being your way, or whatever. If you're going to break the rules, break them good and just tell me whatever it is? Please?" she answered, still watching Miri's face. Reaching up, she glided her fingertips over Miri's cheek once more as she spoke in a playfully stern tone, "So buck up and spit it out, Re. What is it?"

Miri found herself laughing at Alex's playfulness, even feeling as bad as she had to be feeling. Her face grew serious once more, and she gave Alex's hand another squeeze as she stared into the human's eyes for several long moments before finally saying, "I never imagined saying something like this to anyone, really. No one except my family, and even then, it means something very different when you say it to them. I'd pretty much given up on the idea of ever having to say it, because really, who's going to come along and make you want or need to say it? Then you flew into my life. What I'm trying to say, so terribly and lousily, is…is…is that I love you, Alex. I think I've known it since the night General Astra and I came to your house, but somewhere along the line, I didn't think I knew it, I know I knew it."

Both sat in silence for long moments, both of them in shock. Miri was in shock because she couldn't believe she confessed to that feeling, something that was so foreign an idea to her that she was sure she'd never feel that feeling. Alex was in shock because Miri was so tough, like her, and she never expected her to say something like that, let alone feel it.

Sure, relatively speaking, they'd only known each other a short time, too short a time for most to think claiming such a feeling was credible, but the heart knows what it knows. It doesn't wear a time piece and follow a schedule when it comes to feelings, and both girls were aware of that fact. They'd spent a fair amount of time together, and far more thinking about each other and the feeling had stealthily found its way into the mix.

Finally, Alex found her voice. Her eyes were dead serious, and she locked gazes with the beautiful Sagitari leaning over her. She lifted her hands to Miri's cheeks and whispered, "Good, because I love you too, Miri. I'm not sure when it happened, and I don't care. I only care that it did happen." With that, she drew Miri down into another passionate but soft kiss, tingling all over as her body felt like it was melting and she loved it.

X

The two girls had spent an enormous amount of time together during the two days before the El brothers released Alex to go home. All of her family had made it in to speak with her clandestinely over that time, but the time she enjoyed the most had been Miri's visits. Still, Alex couldn't remember being happier in her life. The only thing that would have made it perfect was for her parents to be there as well.

As soon as she was able to leave, Kara and Kal El had both given her hugs so hard she thought her eyes might pop out, but she loved it, and was grateful for it. For the first time since she left the doomed Earth, she felt completely surrounded by love and caring, not just from her family, but from Miri as well. It was a wonderful feeling. The El family had prepared a rather large celebration for Alex recovering and being able to return to the place that finally had started to feel like home. The empty places in her heart not already filled by her new family were starting to fill, and she felt incredible.

When the party started to calm down, Alex excused herself, and took Miri by the hand. She touched Kara on the shoulder, and then picked up Jessica from where she'd been sitting near Alex. "Come on, I want to show you something, and Kara, will you join us? It's important to me to have you both with me," she told the girls as they stood up and made their way towards the lab.

The sound of thudding footsteps, moving rapidly, sounded behind them, and when they turned, an excited Kal El was there, pushing his dark hair back from his face. "Alex, Kara, can I come too? I really haven't had much time to see Alex since she came home," the young boy said. He was pretty young, only around six, but he was very articulate.

Alex smiled, and knelt down to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek before standing and playfully ruffling his hair. "Of course you can," she said with brightness in her tone that Kara hadn't heard in a long time. "I've got to have my best guy with me, don't I?"

They entered the lab, and Alex led them all close to the holographic dais where she spoke with her parents' AIs so often. She wrapped her arms around Kal El's neck and chest, and kissed his head as she looked up at Miri. "My name is Alexandra Danvers, Alex for short," she said, the smile remaining on her lips. "As you may know, I come from Earth, a planet that destroyed itself about six years ago, now. You've met my Kryptonian family, and my Martian hybrid computer, Jessica. Now, I'd like you to meet my real parents. Or their AIs, at least."

The lights in the lab grew dim, and the forms of Jeremiah and Eliza appeared on the dais. They were dressed in the familiar clothes that they had been wearing in the farewell message they'd left for her, and they smiled at the assembled young people. "Jessica, can you activate the translation matrix, please?" asked Alex.

"With pleasure, Alex," responded the swirling orb as there was a short series of beeps and clicks as the translation matrix came online.

The holograms of the two scientists smiled as they waved at the group. "Hello, Alex, Kara," said the image of Jeremiah as he settled into a seated position. His smile was genuine, and Alex marveled again at how very much the two holograms were like her actual parents now. The learning matrix had really done an outstanding job extrapolating her parents' personalities and behaviors over the years.

"Hello, girls," said the pleasant representation of Eliza. She glanced down at the young boy with them and knelt down. "This must be Kal El. Hello, Kal El, it's a great pleasure to meet you. Alex and Kara have told us so much about you. I'm Eliza, and this is my husband, Jeremiah." Then, like the image of Jeremiah, Eliza looked up and saw Miri. "Hello to you, Miss. Alex, who's your friend?"

Kal El bounced around, excited that Alex's parents had heard about him, and the girls all laughed at his antics, along with Jeremiah and Eliza. Finally, Alex smiled, "Mom, Dad, this is Miri. She's a Sagitari, kind of like a soldier. She serves the Kryptonian military under the command of Aunt Astra."

Both holograms smiled once more in the Sagitari's direction and said, "Hello, Miri. It's wonderful to meet you."

The conversation with the holograms lasted a couple of hours, and they shared stories of Supergirl's deeds with them, and talked about many things. All in all, Alex felt fantastic while being surrounded by so many people she loved.

X

Finally, the time had come when Kal El and Miri had to leave, and Alex and Kara were left alone with the holograms of Jeremiah and Eliza. They small talked for a while, and finally, the hologram of Eliza tilted her head slightly in that way that Alex knew she was getting ready to ask some questions. She just hoped they weren't anything bad or embarrassing.

"Miri seems very nice, and you seem to have formed a close bond with her," Eliza said with a pleasant tone. Even so, Alex felt her stomach drop with a sudden anxiety. Kara came to her and rubbed her back softly in circles, letting Alex know she wasn't alone. She didn't think Eliza was going to say anything bad, but apparently Alex was really apprehensive.

The holograms were aware of the general view of aliens on Krypton from what the girls had told them, and the news feeds they'd given them access to, so Jeremiah chimed in, "It has to be nice for someone else to know you're not Kryptonian and accept you anyway. We're really happy to see that you've got people around you that care about and love you, sweetheart."

Alex glanced over at Kara a second, and then nodded as she turned back to her parents. "It is, yeah," she confirmed, hesitantly looking up at the images of her parents. "I'm close with the family here, especially Kara, but it's nice to have someone outside that that knows who and what I am, and isn't scared or that hates me, but that likes me or is even just accepting of me." Even though nothing had been said, Alex still had that churning in her stomach. The last thing she wanted was for this conversation to go down the road she prayed it wouldn't, and have to deal with the disappointment of her parents, even if they were just holographic approximations of her parents.

"We'd never pry, sweetheart, you know that, right? But we can't help but be curious," said the image of Eliza. Her smile remained, genuine and true, but had softened as she spoke. "You like her, don't you? I mean, you like her romantically, don't you?"

There it was. There was the bomb that Alex was hoping to avoid, but it was out there and exploding even as she stood there thinking. She could feel Kara's attitude change slightly, as if she was preparing to defend her sister and her feelings if necessary. Alex's mouth grew very dry, and she felt like she was choking.

Jeremiah didn't say anything, but like Eliza, waited on her answer. Neither of them wore particularly disapproving expressions, but Alex's anxiety magnified everything and stretched it out of proportion at times like this. Her palms were starting to sweat and it was suddenly very hot in the lab. The urge to run or yell or perhaps something else was growing strong.

Glancing at Kara once more, who nodded at her softly, she turned back to them and replied with a heavy sigh of resignation, "Yes, I do. In fact, I love her. Look, I know it's not what you were expecting, or wanted, but I can't help how I-"

The images of her parents held up their hands, and their expressions softened. Eliza shook her head and replied, "You love her? That's wonderful, sweetie. Finding love is always something to be grateful and excited about." The hologram reached out towards her like her mother actually would, even though it couldn't touch or hold her.

Dumbfounded, Alex glanced at Kara again and back to the holograms. Jeremiah wore a smile similar to that of his wife and added, "It wasn't what we were expecting, maybe, no, but the best things in life are rarely expected. What we wanted was for you to find love and happiness, and it seems that you've done just that."

Alex's jaw continued to drop as the holograms continued. She knew they could approximate her parents' personalities and such, but she would never have expected this from her actual parents, so her shock at hearing holograms take this position was even stranger. She squeezed Kara's hand, glancing several times at her and the supportive expression she wore before looking back to the holograms.

Eliza nodded at Jeremiah's words and smiled again, continuing, "We wanted you to love, be loved, and be happy. It didn't matter who it was with, what their sex or gender is, or anything else. If you're happy, and you are loved, it doesn't matter to us."

"We support your decisions, and your feelings Allie Bear. Whoever you feel those feelings for, no matter what," finished the hologram of her dad, wearing the same sort of smile the hologram of her mother wore.

"I told you that your parents would support you…even if I got worried there for a moment, myself. But your parents love you, and they support you, no matter what," Kara said as she hugged her sister gently for a moment. Alex was shaking with the overdose of adrenaline that had been triggered, and she felt like she was going to cry, or yell in triumph and happiness, or something else entirely, she couldn't really tell at that moment.

"See? Kara has come to know us pretty well, Allie Bear. You are very, very lucky to be so loved, and to have such good people and a positive atmosphere to grow into the amazing and beautiful young woman you've become. We're so very proud of you, Alex. There are no words for it," said the hologram of Jeremiah as he watched Alex shuffle through the myriad reactions that were all fighting to come to the top inside her.

Eliza laid her hand on Jeremiah's shoulder and they both leaned forward a bit towards the girls, and seemed extremely attentive. "So, tell us about Miri," said Eliza. "What's she like? What do you two have in common? She seems like an extremely nice girl."

"Where do I start?" asked Alex in a mildly dumbfounded manner. She drew up chairs for her and Kara, and hugged Kara as they all talked. "She's smart, funny, tough…she's perfect, Mom. She's perfect," she said with a proud smile as she sniffled the half summoned tears back.

Alex and Kara spent all night talking with the holograms of Eliza and Jeremiah, where Alex expounded on how awesome and amazing and incredible and unbelievable Miri was, and Kara confirmed what Alex said, and added her own opinions on things she knew and had experience with. By the time the sun rose, both girls were just falling into their beds, and were asleep before they really hit the pillows. Alex slept with a smile, as she slept better than she had in a very long time, filled with wonderful dreams that kept her in the clouds.


	21. Chapter 21

_**Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Earth**_

 **Chapter 21**

The Lawmaker's Court Chamber was filled to capacity, something that hadn't happened in decades, if not centuries. Even the news services were covering the trial taking place within its hallowed walls, with holo displays outside the complex displaying the events, even while people all over the planet in their homes could witness the unprecedented event transpiring at that very moment. An event such as this hadn't occurred since centuries before, an event where some of the most distinguished military leaders of Krypton were being tried for treason, and crimes against the people of Krypton. Even more unheard of was a sad first in history: a member of House Zod, one of the most honorable and noblest Houses in the world and one responsible for a great number of the greatest and most influential military leaders in Kryptonian history, was on trial for that same treason and those same crimes against the citizens of Krypton.

The chamber was dim out of necessity, for full lighting in such a large chamber with such a pure white interior would have overloaded the sight of those present, and fatigued their eyes within minutes of the proceeding's commencement. The Supreme Council, Lawmaker's Council, and the representatives of the other Guilds, sat in a tiered riser bank of seats behind the seat of the High Adjudicator.

A podium for both prosecution and defense counsels were present in triangulated positions from the High Adjudicator's bench, and between them was a large circular platform, spot lit, and surrounded by a swirling double helix of energy barriers. A lower witness stand was situated to the left of the High Adjudicator's bench. Throughout the chamber were officers of the court, maintaining vigilance on the proceeding, and its observers.

A low, ominous tone sounded throughout the chamber, like a bell tolling for the proceeding to begin. A Sagitari detail entered through a door on a far side of the room, leading four individuals into the chamber. They were led to the platform, in binders, and the energy helix was activated to surround the platform, and would prevent both escape and any aggressive action the prisoners might entertain thoughts of while being tried. Overlapping tones of anger and outrage echoed loudly from the four prisoners in the otherwise quiet chamber. They jerked their arms angrily from the grip of the Sagitari escorting them, and glared at everyone they could see in the chamber, especially the Councils and High Adjudicator.

Alura, dressed in the formal robes of her office as the High Adjudicator, rose from her seat once the voices of the accused had finally toned down to a more tolerable volume, and moved to stand before them, looking each in the eye directly for several seconds. She then turned to regard the Councils and Guild representatives, with her pad in hand. They each gave her a brief nod, so once again she turned towards the four prisoners.

"We have all heard your venomously and emphatically delivered pleas of 'not guilty,' primarily in the form of screamed curses and impotent threats during the course of this trial," she began, speaking in a tone both formal and authoritative. "Your counsels have been given the opportunity to speak with you, and advise you of your status and position, and the most likely outcomes of this proceeding as it has been evaluated thus far. Each of you have, dare I say, violently disregarded their input and advice, much to the detriment of the Court's disposition on your case, especially in view of the evidence you have faced in opposition to your adherence to the 'not guilty' plea you have entered."

The four prisoners scowled at Alura with contempt dripping with hatred and condescension, glaring at her strongly enough that each person in the chamber thought it a wonder that the High Adjudicator didn't burst into flames on the spot. Zod narrowed his gaze at Alura and spoke quietly, at which his Lieutenant Generals fell silent, "You _dare_ to call _us_ traitors and perpetrators of crimes against the people of Krypton, but it is _all of you_ that are the _true_ traitors and that are guilty of heinous crimes against the people of Krypton. I don't recognize your authority to try us, let alone convict and sentence us, for trying to save the people we love so much, the _home_ we love and wish to save from the alien filth and trash you so willingly give our planet to, without so much as a second thought. You have all doomed our people and you have doomed Krypton with your delusions of 'peace and generosity.' The insignificant and lesser beings of the galaxy will come in droves, and they will pillage our world, enslave our people, and wipe out everything it means to be Kryptonian. Mark my words, Alura Zor El."

Alura's face had stiffened, become sterner, as she'd listened to the madman before her. With a hard gaze, she gained control of her emotions and the urge to punch the pompous arrogant bastard in the mouth, and responded coolly, "The prosecution and defense have both rested their cases. The time for speaking in your defense has come and gone. All that was to be said has been said, we have deliberated on the evidence and the merit of both charges and defense, and are here to inform you of our verdict, and your fates. The trial is completed; you are here now to be informed of the results of the deliberations. Your bombastic theatrics and feigned wounded sensibilities have no place here any further. You are no martyrs to be revered for your imagined righteous cause in the face of tyrannical adversity."

Zod sputtered in rage, unable to form a single coherent word as the others cursed Alura, the Councils, and made crazed threats in a jumble of words that lost all possible understanding in their overlapping chaos. Alura turned back to them, and held up the device used to keep order with unruly prisoners such as they were.

With the flick of a button, a sharp charge of energy was activated and surged through their bodies, enough to cause minor brief discomfort, but to encourage compliance. "Silence, so that you are fully aware of your verdict and its ramifications, and will have no claim of being unaware of the decision made concerning your fate," Alura said in a light, but weighted commanding voice. "We shall have order in this court."

She paused, allowing them to catch their breaths after the charge was delivered, and nodded towards Thara Ak Var, Kara's friend and recently appointed deputy peace keeper of Argo City, who was acting as verdict delivery officer for the court. She smoothed wrinkles from her uniform and cleared her throat. Her eyes rose to the defendants, then to Alura and the Councils, and then back to the accused once more.

"The jury of councilors has deliberated these charges, and their findings are thus," Thara began and took a deep breath. "Dru Zod, former general of the Kryptonian Military; Non, former officer of the Kryptonian Military; Ursa Hu Ul, former officer of the Kryptonian Military; Faora Hu Ul, former officer of the Kryptonian Military, on the matter of the charge of collusion of insurrection against the legal and rightful government of Krypton, you are all found guilty as charged."

There was a silence, though if looks could have killed, the expressions the four prisoners wore would have obliterated everyone in the chamber. Thara paused a moment longer, then continued, "On the charges of multiple murders and collateral manslaughter of citizens of Krypton and legal foreign visitors to Krypton, you are all found guilty as charged."

The silence lingered, grew pregnant with a cacophony building in sound's absence. Thara's expression shifted slightly and she let the pause go a bit longer before finishing, "On the charges of high treason against the government and people of Krypton, and various and sundry other crimes against the people, you are all found guilty as charged. The sentence will be pronounced by the High Adjudicator with the authority of the Lawmaker's Guild."

Thara stepped back to her place, and Alura approached the four prisoners, while motioning for two officers to bring forward a device on a mobile platform. She looked each of them in the eye for several seconds, and then glanced around the room for a moment before delivering the statement, "In accordance with the Laws of Krypton, and by the authority of the Lawmaker's Guild and the people of Krypton, I have no choice but to impose the maximum sentence for your crimes. Not only did you knowingly and freely commit them, you show absolutely no remorse for the heinous nature of those crimes. Therefore, it is the decree of this court that each of you shall serve one hundred cycles on Fort Rozz, while inhabiting the Phantom Zone. At the conclusion of that time, you will be reevaluated, and your sentence will be amended to be freed, or serve more time, pending the results of that reevaluation. May Rao have mercy upon you, and light the darkness that clouds your way."

She stepped away from the platform, and motioned the two officers forward with the device. The four Kryptonians on the platform were yelling, but all coherence was lost in the chaos of their voices. No matter how much they flailed about and yelled, they couldn't penetrate the energy helix. When the device was in position, Alura reached up and activated the machine. It bathed the criminals in a bright white light, and after a moment, they started to seemingly fade away into nothingness as they were projected into the Phantom Zone and aboard Fort Rozz.

X

The taste of Miri's lips lingered on Alex's own as they parted from a soft kiss. The sensation was a tingling rush, with the sweetest taste Alex could imagine, for it seemed that Miri's lips were made with one absolute purpose in the universe, and that was for Alex to taste over and over again. Even the explosion of fresh air, pure and unpolluted, that she breathed in as they parted paled in comparison to the sweet taste of Miri's lips. The human smiled like a fool, she thought, as she reached up to brush the dark strands of Miri's hair back from her face. The wind so high above the streets of Argo City was strong as they stood on the large observation balcony that projected from the Zor El family's home.

It seemed like such a long time ago, a lifetime ago, that Zod and his followers had been imprisoned in the Phantom Zone. In some ways it felt like it was ages ago, in others it was like it was only a day or two ago. So much had happened in the year since that day, and Alex felt calm and at peace, something she couldn't have imagined feeling just a few years ago, when she'd first landed on this strange world so very far from the cosmic gravel that used to be her home.

The past year had seen Alex and Miri finally formalize what their relationship was, instead of the nebulous and vague idea it had been before Zod and his people were imprisoned. They were officially dating, and Alex couldn't have been more thrilled. _It's great to be able to actually have a way to quantify what Miri and mine's relationship is. It's no longer "whatever you want to call it," or "it's something." We're girlfriends, and even better, it not only feels natural to us, but to everyone else, too. If this was Earth, and we told someone that, even the most accepting person would still do a little bit of a double take, and have to process that information. I guess it's just hard wired into humans, or at least hard coded from centuries of custom and supposed taboo. Thankfully we were getting better about it, we just never had enough time to see how far that road led._

Supergirl had seen a lot of activity over the past year, but the dangers she'd faced were of an entirely different sort than having to stop some crazed would be despot from trying to take over the world. There had been the bit of crime and criminal activity here and there, such things could never be _completely_ eradicated it seemed, but it was nothing like crime had been on Earth. Most of the things she'd dealt with lately had been accidents, or helping out in some way. It felt fantastic, even if she wasn't always sure what to do with herself.

Conversely, Alex had also seen a lot of activity. She and Miri were growing closer all the time, and she and Kara both had joined the Science Guild, and both were making quite a name for themselves there, much like Zor and Jor El had at their ages. Alex's life seemed to be going better than she could remember it ever being. The only thing that would have made it more perfect would be if Earth was still in existence, and if her family and friends from Earth were still alive. Even with that loss, however, Alex had finally learned to be happy, like her parents had wanted her to do.

"Hey, what's going on, El?" asked Miri when Alex seemed to suddenly mentally fly far away for the moment. She furrowed her brows and tilted her head while cupping Alex's cheek in her hand. "Are you okay? You're like a dozen light years away. Did I do something wrong or something?"

Alex blinked, and her attention suddenly snapped back to where she was and who she was with. She looked into Miri's eyes and felt the corners of her mouth raise, and the goose bumps on her cheek rise at Miri's touch, and shook her head, "Of course not, Re. Oh, excuse _me,_ I mean _Primus_ Re. I mustn't forget military protocol, huh?" Alex laughed and impulsively kissed Miri again, more playfully this time.

The Supreme Council and the Military Guild Council had elected to promote Astra to Supreme General, making her subordinate to only the governmental councils in rank. The other generals reported to her, and she reported directly to the Supreme Council. As a result, she had promoted her favorite Sagitari to Primus, and was grooming her to move even further up the ladder as she grew and matured into a more seasoned officer than she already was. As it was, she was already the youngest Primus in Kryptonian history, beating the previous holder of that record by sixteen months. So, as a result, Miri received quite a bit of good natured teasing from Alex, and most of the rest of the House of El, which she didn't mind, even if she had to pretend, badly, to be offended now and then. They all got a great laugh out of it.

"Uh huh," scoffed Miri in a very disbelieving tone, even though it was playful. "You, Alex Zor El, can forget anything you want…as long as it isn't how to do this," she said with a laugh, and suddenly jerked Alex forward into another kiss. Their lips met like a binary supernova, and slowly parted after several moments of gentle massaging of one another's lips.

A beeping sound rose from Miri's wrist, and she glanced down at her chronometer, and noted the reason for the beeping. "Damn," she said, still breathing in the soft exhalations of Alex's breath. "I've got to get back to the compound. Astra's giving us a briefing on new action protocols in high risk situations, and I'm sure she'll be letting you know about them soon, because you're part of the reason we're having them."

Alex gave her a one armed squeeze and brushed her hair back behind her ear again. "I understand," she responded with lightness to her tone. "Hurry there, so you can hurry back later this evening. We have a date, if you recall? It's our anniversary and I want to make it _super_ special for you."

Miri groaned teasingly and shook her head. "You just _had_ to do it, didn't you?" she asked, laughing. "That's the thing, babe. _Every_ date, every moment with you is super special. All it takes is you being there."

The two girls kissed once more, and Miri climbed into the skimmer that she'd parked at the edge of the balcony, and flew off. Alex stood there with her arms wrapped around her own body, and watched the skimmer until it disappeared before going inside.

X

"Hey, Kara, can I talk to you for a few minutes?" Alex asked as she entered the house once more. Alura was busily cooking, as she'd promised Alex she would do for the special anniversary date that the girls were having that evening. The human had mentioned she wanted to do something really nice and meaningful for the date that evening, so Alura had agreed to make the girls' favorite meal, which was another thing they had in common.

Kara glanced up from the pad she was scrolling through and tilted her head, "Sure, of course, Alex. Is everything okay?" It was hard to tell what was going on from Alex's tone, but she hoped there wasn't anything wrong. Things had been going so well for Alex lately, and that was a trend she wanted to see continue, more than anything. Alex seemed to finally be allowing herself to feel something positive for a change, without feeling guilty about feeling that good feeling.

Alex wrapped an arm lightly around Kara's shoulders and walked with her down to the lab where her parents' AIs were. Once inside, they sat down near the dais, and Alex turned to her. "It's about tonight," she said with a slight edge of nervousness to her voice. "Tonight is our anniversary, a year since we officially started actually dating, and there's something…I want to make this…it's important to me. I have to make this the best…"

When Alex trailed off, Kara reached over and took her hands in her own. She met Alex's eyes with hers and spoke softly, with that reassuring tone that Kara always had with her, "Its okay, Alex. Just calm down, okay? I haven't seen you this nervous in…well, since you told me that you were attracted to girls. Take it easy, and tell me what you want to say, all right?" She gave Alex's hands a squeeze, and brushed her thumbs lightly over the back of Alex's hands, and her thumb brushed lightly over the bracelet that had belonged to Jeremiah.

The human nodded softly, and flipped her hair back out of her eyes so she could see Kara's. She took a deep breath, let it out, then another. Finally, she managed to get out, "I want tonight to be extra special, because…well, you know I love Miri, that I am crazy in love with her. Tonight, I want to ask her to…to take that next step along the journey…"

"Oh, Rao, you want to ask her to _marry_ you?" exclaimed Kara suddenly, slapping her hands over her mouth in amazed excitement. It was the only thing keeping her from squealing in delight. "Wow, that's amazing Alex! I'm so happy for you!" She suddenly sobered a bit when she saw Alex's expression was still nervous. "And you think it's too early in your relationship to ask her, don't you?"

 _Busted,_ thought Alex as she looked up again. She'd grown so nervous her hands were shaking, but she knew Kara would see right through her. She always did. "Yeah, I guess so," she confessed as her expression grew more harried. "There's so much going on, and our lives are so crazy right now and what if that's not what she wants? What if she doesn't want to marry anybody, let alone me? I think I'm moving too fast. Do you think I'm moving too fast? I do, and I don't want to do that. I don't want to…I _can't_ mess this up, Kara. I _can't._ "

Kara raised her hands, palms towards Alex, and then placed them on Alex's shoulders. Meeting her, gaze for gaze, she let her eyes lock with Alex's and replied, "Look, Alex, first you need to trust yourself. Second, there's a lot going on, yes, but there's always going to be something going on. You guys have been dating a year. That's not that short a time, some people get engaged far sooner than that. Then there's the fact that in all this time, you've gotten to know her, to know what she likes and what she doesn't. You know _her._ She's crazy in love with you too. I see it, Mom sees it, Aunt Astra sees it, _everyone_ sees it. You each know what the other feels, and have an idea of what the other wants out of life, right? So, no, I don't think you're moving too fast."

Kara paused, and she glanced around the room, noticing that Jessica was there, and active. For whatever reason, she hadn't voiced her opinion yet, and that was surprising. She turned her attention back to Alex and smiled, "You have to follow your heart, and if this is what it's telling you, then it's probably right. You just have to learn to listen to it and trust it."

A few more seconds of silence lingered, and then Alex drew her sister into an embrace. Kara could feel her shivering, and she knew it wasn't because the human was cold. "What would I do without you, Kara? I don't know about trusting anything or anyone for the most part, but I do know that I trust _you._ You, your family, and of course Jessica and my mom and dad, I trust. Like you said, I just have to learn to trust myself."

Kara squeezed back and nodded, "Yes, you do. You're the strongest person I've ever known, Alex. I don't mean just physically, I mean in every way. Most people would have been destroyed if they'd had to have gone through the things you've gone through, but here you are, still going strong. You've lost so much, lost so many, but you have found a lot, too and I know it hurts. I'd be a fool to think it didn't, that you don't mourn those losses quietly all the time. I know I would, if I were in your place. You deserve to gain something now, instead of another loss. You've gained this family, not a replacement, but an extension. Now you're gaining the other half of your heart and soul that's been missing until now. The greatest risk is not taking the chance to start with."

Alex let her grip slip a little and she pulled back, regarding Kara silently for a moment before answering, "You're a lot stronger than you know, too, Kara. You've been my anchor, my rock, and my shield since the moment I stepped out of that ship. Thank you for that. I don't think I've ever said it before, but I meant it every day."

"Where do you think I learned how to be those things?" Kara asked with a soft laugh ringing in her voice. "You're so strong for everyone else, but you seem to just leave yourself open and vulnerable. It's okay to be strong for yourself, too, you know?"

"It's a work in progress," replied Alex with a wan smile as they stood. "I'm trying, and I'm learning. Thank you, Kara, seriously." She gave Kara a gentle squeeze around the shoulders and kissed her cheek as they moved towards the doors.

"Great, now let's go get you cleaned up and get you ready to ask the biggest question of your life to the person that is truly the other half of you," laughed Kara. "She's going to say yes, you know. How could she not?"

The doors closed behind the two girls as they headed back for the main part of the house. After they were gone, the multi colored sphere that was Jessica lit up and swirled colors for a moment before saying, "Now you're cooking with gas, Alex. Go get her and never let go."

"She won't," answered the AIs of both Eliza and Jeremiah. They'd been active, but not visual, the entire time. They hadn't wanted to intrude on what seemed to be a private conversation.

"She's found her star," said Eliza as she smiled towards the door through which her daughter had just gone.

"Yes, she has, and she'll set course and follow it straight on until morning," finished Jeremiah, quoting an old passage from a book written on Earth quite some time before.

X

An hour later, with Kara's help, Alex had put the ring she wanted to surprise Miri with in a rather sneaky hiding place, and the pair had met Astra and Miri at the door when they'd arrived. Alex linked arms with Miri and escorted her to her seat as Alura had Kerex and a couple of the other robots start setting the table.

Kara settled herself in her seat and prepared to enjoy the meal her mother had cooked especially for the occasion of Alex's date with Miri. Alex had asked for the entire family to be present, and Jor El, Lara and Kal El had arrived only moments after Astra and Miri had. Kal El had given all three girls huge hugs and sat down excitedly with the rest of them.

She had looked up and saw Alex wink at her as she took Miri's hand, so she winked back with a rather impish smile. She couldn't wait until Alex sprung the surprise and question on her unsuspecting girlfriend; she was dying to see Miri's reaction. _It's so amazing, and so good, to see Alex so happy, and surrounded by people she knows love her. She lost so very much, more than any one person should ever have to endure, but I hope she feels she's gained much more in the shadow of that loss. I know that her tragedy led to our family's greatest blessing, to_ _ **my**_ _greatest blessing. My sister, my best friend, the best part of myself: Alex._

 **The End**


End file.
